Partner in Crime
by justsomerandomthoughts
Summary: The story of a partner in crime for Dean Winchester and how she came to be. A very unpretentious light-hearted introduction of a new character and a writing that by no means has any intention to interfere with the original story and/or characters, unless you want it to. The Winchesters meet a mysterious supernatural hunter who uses her skills to con, steal and help the brothers.
1. Runaway

_**Note from the author:**__ I don't even know if I should/can consider this a Supernatural fanfic because since I lack knowledge of the TV series having watched only a few episodes of the first season, I took some liberties with everything. This is mainly in order to introduce a character I think is missing in the show: a real partner for Dean once Sam "is done". I know the series has developed a whole lot more by now and none of this makes sense. But for now, enter my AU and forgive my freedom..._

When all is right in the world for a whole week, people usually end up pretty happy about it. The Winchesters however end up in bars, where they can swallow their lack of enthusiasm for the happy world with something slightly stronger than water, and disappear amidst the smoke of the darkened room. Among _Hells Angels_ and _Pagans_ the brothers seemed to fit just fine. Okay, maybe one of them fits better than the other. Sam was taller and had a more somber expression alright, but the micro computer on which he nervously typed gave the nerd in him away. Of course, "vampires of Idaho" did not read "school homework" but he'd still sell the college-kid persona compared to his older brother Dean.

Dean was, by the way, peeking at the computer screen every two minutes for the past three hours. But after "witches in Missouri" and "werewolves in Chicago" did not compute promising results (for the 8th time) "There's gotta be something wrong around here, this is America!" well, then he decided to resort to the old fashioned source of inspiration and hit the bar with all he could afford - and when that sum were to be finished, he'd probably just keep on going with all the guy _next to him_ could afford, even though that was never okay with Sam. Dean had unsuccessfully tried to start a conversation with two scary-looking-Harley-Davidson-owner dudes - specially after noticing the absence of female presence in the place, not that it took him too long to notice _that_.

This might be exactly why he had no trouble spotting the gorgeous figure that walked into the room. It was like she had popped right out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue (only fully clothed), just his type - and everyone else's for that matter... Even Sam took a second look when she passed by him straight to the bar, skillfully managing not to meet one lustful look that came her way. She passed by Dean as well, who had already mentally rehearsed what he considered to be the best pick-up lines from his "sexy-and-I-know-it" selection (crowd pleasers in some situations, but those were the rare cases). Mostly he could count on his abs; but like most men: he genuinely thought it was his smarts that the girls appreciated.

She had firm steps (and bum, Dean also noted) walking past him and seating a couple of stools to his left. She seemed to be familiar with the scheme of roadside joints and did not voice her hard liquor of choice before it was served to her in a blink. She raised her unidentifiable mixture of alcohol and made a toast gesture directed to Dean who seemed less surprised than a normal person with regular self-confidence levels would. He responded to her by raising his glass and both shot all the content down their throats in one fast turn. She stared at him teasingly and he liked it a lot (_a lot_). One could tell the girl was badass just by the looking at her: dark clothes with revealing cuts and molding pants that embraced her long legs supported by high inch boots (the only accessories that didn't seem to come straight from a Sarah Connor closet) - she had no visible tattoos or piercings, but everyone could imagine she thought about it. Actually, everyone probably wondered _where_ she had those. But the only terminating truth about her that Dean could think of was that her long wavy dark hair would look even better covering them both and that her bountiful lips could fulfill their rightful duty of roaming through him. These intimate thoughts are most likely the reason why the following situation unfolded the way it did: When Dean was about to get up and walk to her, never loosing eye contact obviously, Sam showed up and stood in the way with his computer screen covering the image of the girl for a few seconds. Few seconds that did not explain how the girl went from seated at the bar to missing-in-action, or how she simply went "to action" because, as soon as he realized, Dean was grabbing her wrist as she passed by him trying to pickpocket her way to his wallet.

"You chose real badly, sweetheart..." said Dean in a low voice and, even though the situation did not call for it, a small smile on his face.

She seemed very disturbed for a second or two for getting caught but that did not stop her from causing another commotion. She used her free elbow to punch Dean in the face, her knee was soon in his stomach and when Sam ran interference she managed to kick him away, his laptop suffering the most from the impact. That was apparently all she needed to do in order vanish from the place in fast and cool fashion. The brothers ran after her but she had already hopped on a motorcycle and off on the road. Following the Winchesters were the joint owner (she did not pay for her drinks) and one of the scary-looking-Harley-Davidson-owner dudes who realized that his motorcycle might have just ran off without him. In five minutes she managed to steal, piss off a gang member, hurt an honest business, hurt Sam, destroy Sam's computer and leave a frustrated Dean to eat the dust behind her.

"Who the f...?"

The others dispersed in anger leaving the brothers to be in awe on their own. Sam recovered his cool way faster and began to rationalize how to answer Dean's unfinished question. He spotted something on the red dirt ground and picked it up, he instantly knew it was something she had dropped. He voiced his discovery to his brother, but failed to catch his attention.

"She dropped something, yes, my jaw! and I believe its still on the floor somewhere so maybe we should be looking for it instead!"

"No, Dean, I mean she dropped this."

Although it would appear Dean came back to his senses, the only thing that made him turn around and look was the hope of catching the girl and, consequently, his dignity back.

"A cellphone? Not so smart after all. Let's see... No contacts, no calls made or received - no surprise here, she didn't seem very sociable - Messages received, there you go! 'A.R 86 Taos'... thats it. [...] That's it?!"

"Calm down, let me see it."

"No calming down lil brother! I finally have something to hunt..."

"_Something_...?"

"...and I don't even know where to begin the hunt!"

"Dean, _hunt_?"

"You saw her Sammy! The girl is a psycho bitch! That's the worst kind of supernatural!"

But even with that very valid argument, Dean did not seem to convince his brother that this was a hunt worth going for. Shocker.

"And we have nothing to do apparently... specially since she kinda broke your computer back there"

Those were the magic words that changed Sam's expression back into mode mission, "Its in New Mexico."

"What?"

"Taos. Its a small town in New Mexico"

"Yes! _Bienvenido_ aboard brother!"

Taos was indeed a small town, with emphasis on _small_. The Winchesters had no trouble identifying that 86 was the number of the last house of the town, the biggest one, that belonged to the founder family of Rosa Alvarez. So far, no big mystery except why-the-hell-was-psycho-girl-going-to-a-founder-fa mily-home-in-Taos. They scooped the place before deciding to pose as historians at the main entrance. Some men who seemed to be securing the place forbade their entrance.

"You gotta come back tomorrow, the madame is indisposed."

And that might have kept them from entering the house through the main door, but it sure wasn't enough to keep them outside for long. In no time, Dean decided it was upon him to try and enter by some other less-usual-entrance. "There must be an unguarded window or something..."

"Dean, maybe she's not here. I didn't see her motorcycle around."

"Not _her_ motorcycle, Sammy."

The 'you're a hypocrite' look that followed made Dean focus on finding something else wrong with the girl besides her like for other people's stuff - a like much like his own. It was not a long search once he found his way to a second floor window while Sam kept guard on the ground. He saw the girl standing in front of a weary looking old lady who was laying down on a large bed that seemed that hadn't been left for a while. He came closer to the window to hear.

"I'm sorry Ms. Alvarez but the rules are clear: once I remove the spirit from your body, it will try to cling to the first living thing around, which _has_ to be me so I can erase it fast and simple. Are you ready _now_?"

The question, that by the exhausted sound of it was already asked more than once, heard no reply from the clearly morinbumud woman. And on the other side of the window, as the girl began to speak in some random language, Dean was pure confusion and forgot all about the rules... Sam was impatiently pacing back and forth down below and had no idea what was taking his brother so long.

The old lady began to tremble intensely and finally a weird mass of energy left her tired body not wasting any time to start its way to the next victim who was predictably the girl but, unfortunately, the guy hiding behind the window. Dean realized that and recovered his reflexes just in time to escape the thing that flew out breaking the window and threw Dean a couple of stories down to the floor.

Wasting no time of her own, the girl grabbed her things as fast as she could and jumped out of the window before the guards could reach the room. On her way down and out the property, she pulled Sam and Dean, taking them to a safe 500 yards away, where her motorcycle also was. Amazingly, she finally stopped to catch her breath.

" .hell. do you think you're doing Winchester?!"

"What the hell were _you_ doing, you psycho! Do you _know_ how dangerous that thing is?! You just let it loose!"

"I had it under control until _you_ decided to screw with my elimination of the _bruja_ _muerta_!"

Sam was sure he had a lot of questions, he was just not so sure on how to stop the fighting unfolding in front of him.

"_Bruja_ _muerta_? That's what you think that was?! That was a hag!"

"Actually Dean... its the same thing."

"Whose side are you on Sammy?"

"I was just..."

"And you..!"

Dean turned to yell some more at the girl but she was on her way again, fleeing from the scene. "No no no no! Stop right there!" She obviously didn't.

"We just have a few questions!" Tried Sam.

"_You_ might just have a few questions! I have a few other accounts to settle!"

"Perhaps you should try to escape the guards first." she turned on her motorcycle and sped away as the guards came running to them in the distance shooting some very dangerous warning shots as they came.

The Winchesters managed to get in the Impala, that was less strategically parked, and get away.

"She was performing an exorcism, Sam."

Sam was indeed curious to know how did the conversation with a violent (attractive) petty thief ended up on a supernatural hag. But he did not expect that.

"So... she's an exorcist..?"

"I dunno, maybe."

"What did you see? Was it for real or just-"

"Well, Sammy, before we got to intimate details of her life I had to throw myself from the second floor window to avoid possession."

" 'I don't know' works too."

They reached somewhere between what could be the town's borders or just a deserted road. Curiously, it was where she was waiting for them.

"Okay, spill it honey. Who are you?"


	2. All I Want Is Everything

"Okay, spill it honey. Who are you?"

The beauty looked amused at their confusion. She had considered letting them in the dark for longer; running away and let them wonder, agonize at the fact that they were vulnerable because she knew them and they would only know her if she so wanted. But that kind of pleasure was useless to her and, as the Winchesters would later find out, not her style. She let just one more drop of cold sweat run down them before she started:

"I was dealing with a _Mare_ when I first heard about you. It was somewhere in South Carolina, about a year ago. I (successfully) eliminated the threat and went on to (naturally) charge for my services, nothing much you know, two gran and I'd be on my way... -Why are you looking at me like that? A girl's gotta eat!"

"How much exactly do you eat?"

"Dean..."

She continued as if nothing happened "one of the town's people interfered, said he had heard about two brothers who did it for free. I was kicked out of the town, no money. Five months ago I came across another story of you two. I was called by a friend-" at the mention of the word, Dean coughed not at all discretely, this time she seemed annoyed by the interruption

"Sorry, I thought I heard you say 'friend'" Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's remark, and the girl was definitely fighting the urge to start another banter. "Fine. 'Someone to whom I had already offered my services' called me and asked if I could deal with a situation. As soon as I arrived she told me 'two nice fellows' passed by the town and solved everything, she no longer needed me. That happened again on the next city. I decided to find out who was behind my sudden unemployment and after some months of research, imagine my surprise learning that the two were none other than the Winchesters. The sons of THE Winchester. I had more than enough reason to find you and so I did. Of course, hacking into your computer three weeks ago helped me a lot..."

"You hacked my computer?!" she smiled to Sam, a little too satisfied with herself. "Is that why we couldn't find anything? You...-"

"Found it first and dealt with it before you ever found out? Yep, I did."

Sam didn't know if he should react more angrily by her audacity to throw them off their vengeful investigation of supernatural phenomena or if he should be simply astonished by the fact she could hack his super protected computer.

"If you knew who we were, why did you try to pick-pocket Dean?"

"Oh, trust me: I knew he had hardly any money on him."

"Excuse me?!"

"Twenty bucks and some crap, you can't even buy me dinner."

"Only cause you eat like a horse."

"Ignoring you."

"Wait, how did you see my wallet?"

"It was around the time my elbow was on your face" replied her sarcastically, she then turned to Sam "I needed to check if it was really you"

"Well, you hacked my computer and had it all going your way. Why did you wanna meet us?"

"You mentioned something about our dad. I'm not kidding darling, if you know anything you're gonna talk"

"Your dad has been off the grid for the longest time now, can't help you there. As for meeting you, it clearly was a mistake because thanks to mr. Congeniality here my next job has been compromised-

"Don't you mean _our_ job?"

"- and you can't even cover the expenses."

"Sorry we don't charge dying possessed people."

"Well, that's your problem now."

"You're seriously leaving this mess? There's a Hag out there. These people need help."

"Nerdy, -"

"It's Sam"

"-you both can handle it. I'm off."

"So you're in it really just for the money? Couldn't you become a stripper or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous Winchester, the money is just my way around."

"Then-"

"I want everything. All that was taken from me, and even things I never had. This is the only way I can go."

The brothers felt like they were back where they started: confused. They heard her story and yet knew nothing about her. But something about that last thing she said made them feel there was sadness and tragedy in the details of her, they recognized it instantly. Dean was not satisfied by that knowledge alone, he didn't know it yet but he needed more, he needed to know everything. She was going to go again:

"Did you steal a name with that motorcycle?" shouted Dean.

But his voice was muffled by the powerful sound of the motorcycle that sped away... for now.


	3. Fast Cars

It so happens that whenever someone is doing something they're not supposed to, whatever that is, their awareness becomes borderline paranoid and their senses get heightened in such a way that it is possible to hear a feather fall to the floor. Digging up a grave in the cemetery of Taos (regardless of how small the city is) characterizes as something Dean was not supposed to do, so he could distinctly hear steps coming closer from above-ground. He thought of posing as a keeper but that would be stupid if the person who busted him was the one really watching the graves. He could say he was investigating a toxic-something that was coming from that tomb...? Whatever scientific name it could have...("where is Sam when I need him?!"). The steps stopped just beside the hole he had opened. By instinct he came up all apologetic and cool, trying to seem harmless and friendly.

"Hi there, I was just checking for some toxin here and-What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard."

"Shouldn't you be on your way to con some innocent people in the next city?"

"My motorcycle-"

"_Not _yours..."

"-ran outta gas and thanks to you I don't have any cash to fuel it so..." the girl was back.

"So you decided to steal something else? That's great. The Metallicar is off limits."

"Are you kidding? I've always wanted a Harley! I'm keeping that. Just thought I'd stop by and share the intel I got with some local."

"Some local who doesn't know yet his money has been borrowed?"

"That's the guy." she answered playfully. "And he tells me you're covering yourself in dirt for nothing. Its not buried."

"What are you talking about?"

"The item, that connects the 'Hag', as you like to call it, to this place... You _are _looking for it, right?"

"The guy is not smart enough to keep you from getting his money but he knows about the Hag item? That's some source you got there."

"He doesn't know the item, genius. He knows however that all the town is talking about how dying Ms. Alvarez donated all her stuff last month to a boy at an orphanage. She started feeling ill a few days after. Of course people in town think she got sick from regret or whatever it is. But then the priest went to see her and that's when I was called - well, technically you were... - now, we all know she was possesed by the _Bruja_ but what didn't make sense was why the hell the thing was sucking all her energy up, it should have chosen a younger target, unless..."

"It was being controled by an item, aiming her. So you think this kid has the item?"

"And accidentaly activated it? Yes. Now, are you ever getting out of this hole so we can find that thing?"

"There's no 'we', sweetheart. And as I recall it: you were leaving."

"Can't find gas at this hour."

"You're kidding."

"No. Have to buy a gallon with 'old man Pete' who so happens to really be an old married man that can't have beautiful young ladies knocking on his door after 9PM"

"You tried the window?"

"And the basement door. So, since I have to wait for sunrise I might as well finish what I started."

"And why again do you need us?"

"Are you gonna let me charge someone for the job?"

"No."

"Then I need you to do the heavy work. I don't like sweating for free."

"That seems like an honest reason (not)... Why should I believe you?"

"Hey! What are you doing here at this hour?! Get the hell away from there!" At a distance a flashlight started pointing at the girl and coming closer.

"Quick! Its the grave keeper!" she lent Dean a hand to climb up. They escaped without any problem, of course, the guardian, like most of them, was almost too old to be doing this job. Once they were out of the cemetery Dean contacted his brother and told him where to meet - the girl was still walking with him.

"Are you gonna keep on following me like a lost puppy?"

"I thought we were going to the orphanage."

"_We_ are not going anywhere."

"Of course we are" with a quick movement she hit Dean's _derriére_ (or butt if you don't care for putting it nicely), that took him by surprise. "and I'm driving!" she had his car keys in her hands - now _that_ took him by surprise.

"You ran your motorcycle-"

"Not mine."

"-outta gas. You're not driving the baby."

He was in panic but she was faster and was already getting in. He held the car door as she turned the engines on.

"Ok, you already violated a sacred space."

"The driver's seat?"

"Get out."

"How am I supposed to get to the other side of the city?"

"Not my problem, go walking."

"Five miles?"

"It's aerobics. Don't women love that?"

"I'm gonna leave you and your sarcasm behind..." and she would. So in order to save 'the baby' from any further sacrileges, he got on the passenger's seat, the _passenger's seat_ of his own car. He wasn't even done closing the door when the car went off so fast he even forgot how much he still had to complain about her take over.

"Are you trying to kill me?!"

"What are you talking about? I just saved back at the cemetery."

"You're gonna _hit_ the car!"

"Don't we need to get there fast?"

"You mean to Heaven?!"

"Relax! I would never damage a Chevy 67 Impala."

The fact she knew about 'the baby' made Dean slightly more comfortable, but no less creeped out at how did this woman survive driving herself around. He decided to turn the radio on, there was Bon Jovi ("who rocks, occasionally"). Of course, she put her intruding hand there and chose a song to which she started mumbling...

"_Trust me tonight... I swear I know where we are... We're gonna run all the lights, we're gonna blow right through the radar..."_

"That sounds promising..." mumbled Dean with sarcasm. But there was no comeback. She wasn't there anymore, not with him. It was like all her focus was on the song, the Impala and the road. Even though she was a maniac driving his baby a thousand miles per hour, he truly felt he could trust her at that moment.

"_We're fast cars... We're fast cars on a long ride..."_


	4. Another Reason To Believe

Sam had been there waiting for a while now. The sun would rise in less than two hours and they needed to hurry, they'd already wasted too much time following the lead of that random con girl. He was not convinced that she was worth all this trouble, specially because all he saw her do was kickass in a joint and disappear in a stolen motorcycle: not one of these things meant she was indeed a supernatural hunter. He had to admit he didn't find her dangerous or anything like that, but he would think twice before trusting her. But all these thoughts, it soon seemed, came to him a little too late - as the Metallicar did a dramatic stop next to him in a non-Dean fashion.

He went quickly to the driver's door and pulled it open.

"Hurry up man, the sun will be here soon and people will b-" Sam came to a complete stop once instead of his brother's reassuring face, he saw long feminine legs. Dean got off on the other side of the vehicle, not even bothering to explain.

"I see to whom the gentleman gene of the family went, thank you Nerdy." and the girl got off as if Sam had actually intended to open the door for her, not a care in the world. She threw the car keys to Dean and they went on leaving a (very) confused Sam behind.

As the trio entered the asleep orphanage, Dean's supernatural detector started alerting they were in the right place.

"We should look for the boy's room. Any idea where to look?"

"Dean, you come with me." Sam then turned to the girl "You can search dowstairs right?"

Even though Dean was confused by his brother's lack of chivalry, the girl knew what was going on (girls always know what's going on) she smiled an arrogant smile at Sam and started walking towards the dark corridors. The boys went up to what would be the dormitory area, not saying a word to each other. After searching fruitlessly for a few minutes for anything unusual, the younger brother spoke up.

"What are you doing Dean?"

"Looking for the 'Hagmulet'...? Aren't you?"

"You can't trust her Dean. Yet you trusted her with 'the baby'?! Not even I get to drive it!"

"Okay now that's not true, you drove it before."

"That's not my point at all."

"And since when are you the one suspicious of other people?"

"What makes you think this girl, whose name you don't even know-"

"In my defense, I did try to ask."

"That horrible pick-up line doesn't count...- who's to say she's not just using us-"

"She _is_ using us."

"So!"

"Look Sammy, you got it all wrong. I don't trust her either, she stole my car keys (gave it back, but stole it anyways). But what can miss 'femme fatale' do to us? Though if it were a hand-combat, my money would be on her."

"Thank you, Dean..."

"If it weren't, she'd probably steal it anyways..."

Their interaction was cut short when they both heard a child cry coming from one of the rooms. It was a room like the others from what they could see from the tiny window on the door, but this one was occupied by one boy only.

"So its door number 100... The kid's awake, how do we search for the 'Hagmulet'?'"

"Well, first: stop calling it that." Dean frowned, he thought it was creative. "And let me do the talking." Sam knocked lightly on the door and dared to open it just enough so he could show his amicable face. What he saw though was _not_ amicable. The kid was not crying, he was laughing creepishly and when he turned to see who was disturbing his peace... well, let's just say his eyes gave away he was not himself. Sam feared that any loud noise on the hallway would call to much attention, so he quickly grabbed Dean and both went inside, locking the door behind them.

The boy got off his chair and stared at them with colored eyes. Things in the room started trembling, each piece of dead furniture trying to break free from their designated space.

"Kid... we just need to talk!"

"I don't think he's the one listening Dean..." they both dived to the ground as a large table flew off the window.

"Well there goes keeping it quiet."

"Do you see anything that could be the item?"

"Sammy, I think you should focus on running from the sharp objects for now"

Amidst flying threatening chairs, pencils and house utensils, the orphanage started to wake up in alarm. The door was forced open by one of the nurses, which was completely useless once a flying bed made its way to destroy the wall next to it. Now they were exposed. The nurse was panicking too much over the two strangers in a destroyed room to notice the kid in his strange behavior, and before she could, she heard a confident voice behind her.

"M'am, I need you to evacuate the other kids immediately and let me take care of the rest."

The poor woman turned around to face a girl holding a police badge in front of her. Looked official enough, she left the scene. The kid went on to give Dean a hard time, stranggling him since Dean could not fight back. Sam was desperately looking for the item. Suddenly, the girl pulls a gun from her back pocket and shoots the boy in the chest, no hesitation. Dean falls to the ground, not even having time to recuperate his breath so scared he was for the kid who just fell flat on the floor. The brothers looked at the girl astonished as she came closer in cool mode.

"Did you just _kill_ him?!" she approached the boy who was still lying on the floor.

"Get away from him!" yelled Sam in a desperate tone. They were used to deaths, but a kid's life is something that never gets easy or reasonable. She ignored him and took the boy in her arms. Dean was up and now pointed a gun at her. The tense moment was then, that was the climax of the night and they all felt it in the air. It was indeed justifiable if Dean wanted to hate her, and shoot her right there for wasting precious life as if it were nothing. What he couldn't understand was this feeling of deep disapointment, of feeling betrayed but resisting to believe it. Even so, he kept the gun pointed at her, staring at her, who didn't stare back. She was looking at the kid, probably feeling guilt? Sam was static, things took such a twisted turn. He could feel his brother's internal rage and he knew that was not half of what would surface once he pulled the trigger. The silence was prolonged until the truly unexpected: the little boy opened his innocent eyes and the girl helped him sit up. She was still not facing the brothers, but she was not acting cocky either, it was more like she was happy to see the kid finally waking up.

"Some bad things happened but its alright now." she held a pendant that surrounded the boy's neck in front of him, it was one of those locks in which you put picures and guard it with your life. "They protected you. Are these your parents?" the kid nodded affirmatively. "Well, go find your friends and tell them the nice good-looking police woman took care of everything and that they can come back inside." the boy got up and passed with all the carefulness in the world by Dean who was still holding the gun.

"The item..." she got up and faced Dean "was the locket with his parent's photographs. That's what I shot." Dean was still in shock, his feelings were all mixed up still. She turned to Sam, he seemed relieved but confused, she explained "They have some pictures downstairs, I saw the same boy in a photograph at the Alvarez mansion, he didn't have the necklace on." Sam still had the question mark on his face "Its a special bullet, it erases the supernatural without destroying the object." he was satisfied. They both looked back at Dean.

"Dean..." he lowered the gun at the sound of her voice. Now all he felt was embarrassment, for not trusting her when he knew he could. He stared back at her almost pleading for forgiveness through his eyes, his head held low as if it couldn't sustain the weight of his thoughts. He looked so serious.

They could hear the kids returning, they had to leave.

Once safely away from the comotion, Dean was still finding it hard to cut the awkward. He kept on looking at her and looking down when she faced him. Finally, he gave up:

"I'm sorry I didn't trus-"

"Chill, Winchester. I never gave you a reason to." she was laid back even when she cut in the middle of his apology. She came closer to him. "but since I believe an apology from you is a rare thing... I'll drink to that." and she raised a flask to her mouth.

"Is that my... how, _when_ did you...?!"

"Now if you boys will excuse me, the grown ups have to find gas and hit the road." she was walking away again, but this time she turned back.

"Its Hanna, by the way - and it is not stolen!" yes, she had just yelled her name. And to Dean's further embarassment she did hear him when he asked...

Back at the Metallicar, Sam was trying to put his brother at ease.

"I'm sorry I pressured you not to trust her Dean, but you shouldn't feel so bad about it, I mean, its like she said: she never gave you a reason to believe her good intentions..."

"Thing is.. I think she did."

They stopped at a "Bar &tc" to get ready for the road again. A very nice old man was fetching drinks at the bar, as soon as he saw the brothers however his expression closed to a frown.

"Are you the Winchester brothers?"

"Yes...?-"

"The thugs who destroyed the orphanage to gather pieces of furniture to sell?!" yelled the man angrily. The few men around turned to face the brothers.

"What?! What are you...-"

"Hanna." concluded Dean in amused disbelief.

"No, we didn't... The girl lied to you!" tried Sam desperate.

"Don't you dare talk about that girl, she was kind enough to pass by collecting funds to help rebuild the orphanage! How dare you?! Out of here!"

And they went on the road.

"Forget whatever I said or thought before Sammy. That bitch is a self-centered, narcisistic, con woman with a good aim and there's no _worse_ a combination!"

"You think we'll meet her again?"

"God, I hope not!"

"Right..." it was Sam's turn not to believe.


	5. We Weren't Born to Follow

_**Note from the author:**__ In this chapter one other character from the show makes an appearance. As I said before, you should consider this an AU, try to forgive the liberties I take, and definitely enjoy! **note 2:** apparently there's a problem with separating my paragraphs properly so I've inserted the horizontal lines for now..._

* * *

"Then why the hell did we drive all the way to Iowa?!"

Another lovely day in the world... just not for the Winchester brothers.

"I'm sorry, she left really fast."

"Explain that again."

The man in his mid-forties thought he would age till his 90s if he didn't finish this conversation right away. The irritated brothers in front of him however were taking their time.

"She went to the lake and next thing I know: it's clean! Then she disappeared."

"North or South?"

The tired man rolled his eyes in defeat.

"East?"

"Dean, this is pointless. Let's go."

* * *

"Its the _fifth_ time in three weeks!"

"Well, that answers if she still has access to my computer."

"I thought she broke it."

"I fixed it, sort of..."

"But the virus remains..." Dean was very irritated, the brothers haven't been able to get a good night's sleep ever since the week after meeting the competitive supernatural hunter Hanna. She beat them to every occurrence they could think of solving by hacking their system and using their research. After the first week being outmaneuvered by her every single time, they tried to change their tactic and look for her but she was one hard woman to find.

"She's throwing us off the track with this Sam. How are we supposed to investigate if we can't put our hands on any clues?! [...] Hey, I'm ranting to you here, it'd be nice if you pretended to hear!"

"Track..."

"Yes Sam, track. She's throwing us off of it, its super cool."

"She must leave tracks..."

"Stop obsessing with tracks. It was a metaphor, okay?!"

"Dude, how far away is Michigan?"

"I'm lost."

"We can't find her, but there's someone who might be able to..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about but..." Dean started the car "whatever you need to hunt her bro!"

* * *

The red-haired was still not satisfied with the results of her costume. After all if you're going to cosplay, you better do it right! Her contemplation was interrupted by the doorbell - which sounded more like an alarm of a sci-fi spaceship - she opened the door to her life's biggest dilemma: the people she loves the most, but hates the most to see.

"Hello Charlie!" the Winchesters had a big big smile on their faces which meant to Charlie Bradbury that...

"Oh no, I can't do you any favors! I can't fight real monsters now, I have Comic Con this weekend in Chicago and I still haven't finished my costume, and I hate monsters, you know that, why are you always coming to me if you know I hate monsters and come on! you are so much better taking care of these stuff anyways, my weapons are all fake (except for the Hatori Hanzo, of course) but seriously what can I possibly do for you?! Actually, forget I asked that, I don't wanna know-"

"Charlie, Charlie, calm down, you won't even have to leave the house." for Dean to be the one reassuring her, she knew it couldn't involve something _that_ dangerous... but she thought it was better to play it safe.

"You want to use the bathroom? Go ahead. Other than that..."

"We need you to find a girl for us." interfered Sam.

"A girl?" she did not expect that.

"Yeah, with boobs and everything!"

Charlie dismissed Dean's commentary, one that did not help to make up her mind. But although Charlie had always been a little unsure about her adventures with the brothers, she enjoyed herself and deep (very deep) in her heart she trusted them completely.

"Can you help me finish my cosplay?"

Dean opened up an even bigger smile, a boy-wonder charm that would never work on Charlie even if he meant it. They came inside and Sam went straight to the computer (room) with Charlie. Dean let the geek in him explore all the wonders of Charlieland - action figures, replicas, comics, etc - he came back to the reality of his problems when they started discussing the current pain of his existence...

"So, her name is Hanna."

Charlie made no sound, she waited for Sam to give her a little more detail. Nothing came.

"Okay...?"

"She's a supernatural hunter... maybe."

"She's a con artist... definitely." added Dean "and a bitch."

Charlie smiled, that smile that does not reach the eyes "So basically, you have her maybe-first name and her maybe-profession... Good. That narrows it down. NOT. I'm a hacker not a magician, I need something more concrete!"

"She was just in Iowa, and she's been on the road for three weeks now."

"Where was she three weeks ago?"

"Taos, New Mexico."

Charlie accessed her super computer right away, she was way too fast for Dean to follow, Sam tried to pretend he could.

"What's her vehicle?"

"A Harley."

"Not _hers_."

"These are the routes she could have followed" in less than seconds she showed them a map with several colored lines. They knew which cities she covered since they were chasing her, Sam selected the red line.

"Luckily, this is the main road."

They looked at Charlie in hopes of understanding.

"Means that its easier to find security cameras to hack. You know any of her stops?"

They started a thorough itinerary, none of the 'supernatural stops' however were of any use. Dean remembered he knew a way.

"She had to put gas on the Harley in Taos..."

"So she would have to stop again at a gas station approximately around... here!" There was only one gas station in that area so all they had to do was review the camera from the time she could have been there. An hour later of truckers, families, loners and Dean and Sam almost giving up, Charlie froze the footage.

"Its Adriana Lima's body in a dark-eyed-dark-haired..." Charlie was mesmerized.

"Charlie, what are you gonna do next?"

"Relax Sammy, let the girl look a little." Dean winked at Charlie like a proud father would, then he remembered he hated the Adriana-Lima-look-a-like. "but so, how's that helpful?"

"Well, I can't tell you where she'll be next but! I can do this..." Charlie started building a police profile on her once she couldn't find one online. "And send... We should hear from her soon!"

"You're the best Charlie!"

"I know." Charlie turned to the living room. "Now you gotta help me with the cosplay."

Sam was not eager for this particular moment, but Dean was ready to go on-board "What are you doing? Princess Leia in a golden bikini? No. I know. You're-"

"A female ogre."

Dean was a man at sea with Sam now.

"Come on, my impenetrable skin is produced with the closest thing you can find to _adamantium_!"

"I'm happy if you're happy." and they started the Comic Con masterpiece.

* * *

Not far from there in a coffee shop a young lady, of whom nobody would suspect of a crime worse than breaking hearts, drank her expresso with a shot of expresso and another of Baileys.

"Hanna Winchester?"

That wasn't her _at all_, but she couldn't help but look at the policeman behind her.

"Actually... no."

The policeman understood his was a rhetoric question. "You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used ..." you know the drill. She did too. Just her luck this was one of those precincts with one cell and no one in it, she still got locked up. She protested for a while but decided to wait. She knew what was coming.

"Getting home cozy feels yet?"

"Dean Winchester. Are we married now?"

"Its officer Dredd in here, I don't wanna raise any suspicions. You understand..."

"Local officer?"

"FBI."

"Okay, we role-played. Now cut the crap and get me out of here."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because when I do get out (soon) I won't feel the need to retaliate and you may be able to live."

"Getting out of here, right. Where's that fake badge of yours again?"

"That one was very real. Remember the guy who lent me money?"

"You stole money from a cop..."

"I gave him back his badge."

"Maybe you shouldn't have." Dean came closer to the bars. "I just came by to check on you, make sure you didn't seduce your way out-"

"The guard is gay." she _had_ tried.

Dean laughed out loud "Nice one, Charlie"

"And who's that again?"

"The person who rightfully put you here, yes."

She made a face.

"And that's not her real name so you can't go after her. Now, I'm gonna leave you here and if you ever break free, our network will be off your evil hands."

"You really think so?"

"I _know_ it." Dean prepared to leave as...

"Can't believe you're trying to get rid of me when I gathered so much information for you." the girl took a piece of paper from her bra. "Not a bluff."

"Why would you do that for me-us?"

"Remember last time you questioned my motifs?"

"I remember you framed me and my brother in the end, yes."

She looked at him intensely and he knew she was serious.

"If I gather you this information, maybe you'll leave me to gather mine."

"Or vice-versa..." offered Dean.

"I'm not big on sharing."

"Noted." Dean looked at her like people who look at a wild animal to make sure they can come closer, only this wild animal was contained. "So, joining us would be out of the question too, huh?"

"It would be out of the question." she answered seriously.

"We've reached an impasse then."

"Not quite. Get me out and I'll give you this."

Dean thought about it, his face didn't give away a decision. He could hear her heavy breath of discontentment as he walked away.

* * *

"That was better than soap-operas." Charlie and Dean were eating popcorn in front of Charlie's computer screen. They were screening the Dean and Hanna confrontation at the police station, which according to Charlie could get a fair amount of hits if a sequel were promised.

"We're Hanna-free now. Off we go!" informed Sam. He grabbed his laptop and was ready to hit the road.

"Wait, wait, wait! First, that's awesome news, second: wouldn't Charlie like a ride?"

Sam and Charlie were confused. "To Chicago?!"

"Yeah! I'll drive."

Charlie was very excited "Well, who am I to reject a ride. Let me just wrap the armor and we can go!" and she set off to her self-assignment.

"Dean, what are you thinking? We can't road trip now!"

Dean did not answer. He was looking at Charlie's screen where a girl sat down waiting. Sam was oblivious of his brother's focus and went to help Charlie put her ogre costume in their car. At sunset, the trio (a happy coincidence with the Harry Potter series in Charlie's opinion) began their journey.


	6. What Do You Got?

"And you _are_ gonna pick me up later right?"

"Yes, Charlie."

"But like.. later as in 'this-year's-calendar-later'?"

"Charlie, I promise you the Metallicar is at your disposal."

The girl still wouldn't release the passenger's door. "Even if you get an urgent case somewhere else? You'll still come back to get me? Why don't you come too?"

"We don't have costumes..." that was Dean's way of not hurting Charlie's feelings.

"They sell some stuff here, I can go look-"

"You took a lot of time preparing yours, it wouldn't be fair." and that was Sam's way of not hurting Charlie's feelings _and _erasing any hint of a thought from Dean of accepting her offer.

"You know Charlie..."

Sam looked back at Dean in desperation before his brother could finish that sentence.

"If you're so worried, here..." Dean opened the passenger's door "take Sam with you as leverage. Sounds good?" and pulled Sam out of the car.

"What?! Dean, you can't be serious."

"Why not Sammy? Its a chance for you to meet new people, mingle, maybe get a lady who's attracted to somber nerds with an athletic edge? I'm sure Charlie has some straight friends. Have fun!"

"Wait wait wait wait, and where do you think you're going?!"

"I'm the older brother, Sam. I'm gonna do older people stuff and get some much deserved 'me-time'."

"Does that even mean anything?"

"I'll be back tonight kids!" and Dean drove off leaving Sam behind. Charlie had already changed into her ogre cosplay and clinged to Sam like an over-joyous little sister to her cool brother. And off the kids went to play.

Meanwhile, the self-entitled 'oldie' was pulling over on the corner of some old seemingly abandoned warehouse. He checked if no one was following and entered an alley. He went straight up to a strong man whose face never changed from a mean frown, the man let him into the dark room. Dean followed down a staircase and entered a sketchy "office", at least it had a desk, a computer and some files. Behind the desk were a guy, not much older than Dean, and two big others who looked like bodyguards. The guy behind the desk was writing on something but soon noticed someone was waiting.

"Bless my soul! Dean Winchester!?"

"Carter!"

The man, Carter Lloyd, went around the table for a hug and some back-tapping "Where's your old man? I haven't seen you since-"

"2001?"

"I must have that record here somewhere, how is John?"

Dean tried to avoid that question like the plague "He's... taking some time to himself."

"As he should! I'm sure he's enjoying!"

"Yeah, I'm sure..."

And that was the end of that particular subject.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"A lot, actually."

"You're in luck! This is our busiest season."

"I can't believe you still make money out of this."

"If you spend a lot and get a lot in return, its nothing but a good investment!"

"Is that so?"

"Hey, Oprah says!"

Dean waited while Carter checked his computer.

"There you go: Werewolf?"

"Too long till full moon..."

"Ghost Train ride gone wrong?"

"Maybe.."

"Hunted widower?"

"Female?"

"Fifty year old dude."

"Pass."

"Ok. How about a necromancer?"

"Possibility... possibility... is it close by? I need something fast."

"Well, if you're not looking for an obscene amount I think you found your guy." Carter got up and grabbed a jacket. "Shall we?"

Carter Lloyd was what one could call a "supernatural pimp". The first time Dean met him was the first time he and his father drove to Chicago together. John needed money and they went to Carter, who at the time was assisting his own father. Their family business was different from that of the Winchesters; they did not hunt down the supernatural beings - instead they catalogued every unusual event (in accurate details) and supplied that information to the hunters, exorcists, priests, and all kinds of parties that came looking. They would go along and arrange the whole plot: if there was a poltergeist in the water system, Carter and his father were the "company" who hired "plumbers" to take care of people's problems without them knowing what was actually going on. But the best part about the Lloyd family business is that it was a _business_: they managed to charge the unsuspecting clients in the end for their service, keeping 40% to themselves and giving 60% to the 'exterminator'. It worked well since they would provide them with a story, fake IDs, clothing and, of course, money.

That's, by the way, how Dean learned a thing or two. Another thing he learned (very poorly) was poker. His father used to play poker with Carter's father, using the money they both got on the case, it was "a way to re-do the sharing amicably" John used to say.

Both boys took the Impala to a local theatre house that was being used to the necromancer's "show".

"I can't believe you still have the Impala. This car will outlive you man."

"Here's hoping!"

"So, you said I could help you a lot but... you did not drive all the way here to make some honest cash now, did you?" Carter knew Dean well.

"No. There's another thing I need your help with."

* * *

Later in the day, after making sure to seal the fake necromancer's very real talismans and putting the scum bag in jail for life (or at least until he convinced someone he was innocent, which _could_ take a lifetime), the duo came back to the office to count their good money and share it along with some alcohol. Dean got a very fair amount from that mission and by the pleased way Carter drank his expensive whisky, he was not unhappy either. But it was almost time for the Comic Con to be over and he did promise "the kids" he would pick them up soon.

"About that other thing I needed..."

"You name it, Winchester!"

"I wonder if you have any registry of a supernatural hunter called Hanna."

Carter swallowed his booze with difficulty, he looked Dean in the eyes before answering cautiously.

"You know I can't share clientele information, right?" but Carter knew he would not get Dean to drop it. Another good thing about Carter: he never asked _why_. His father taught him the limits of their business, and that did not include other people's reasons. That kind of harmony has always worked well, specially for his kind of crowd. He got up to check "Just 'cause its you man..."

That reason, for Dean, was good enough.

"There's only one register of this name here in our data. A 'Hanna Lynd' came to us in 2005..." then he also noticed "she came right after your dad left." and he looked at Dean as if expecting to read what was going on - just because he couldn't ask why, doesn't mean he didn't wonder. But Dean's face wouldn't give anything away, mostly because at the time he did not care for the two informations put together.

"So, that's her real name?"

"You know nobody comes here with a fake one."

"Thanks man, I appreciate it."

"You sure you don't wanna play some poker?"

"I'd rather not loose it all tonight!"

"Fair enough."

"You take care, Lloyd."

"You do too, send my best to John. And come back soon, we're always open!"

Their goodbyes were simple. Simpler than most people who know that anytime their luck can change and that this could be the last time they see each other. That's because Carter Lloyd, like Dean Winchester, was an optimist.

* * *

"See? I'm right on time." Dean pulled over and Sam and the female ogre, who wouldn't change back to Charlie, got in.

"They closed the doors an hour ago..." said a very tired Sam.

"Right on Dean-time."

"Don't listen to him Dean, Sam loved it!"

"He did?" Dean was amused. He knew he would have to take at least a week of abandonment issues if Sam had not enjoyed his day off with 'the normal' people. Sam blushed a little, having to admit to a part of Charlie's accusation.

"There was a _Man of Steel_ panel... It was kinda cool." and Sam looked away as to end that topic. But Dean was not willing to let go. "You know Charlie, when Sammy here was little, he would watch the Reeve's films over and over and ov-"

"Okay, she got it. Move on."

"So he's a DC nerd?"

"He loves heroes."

And off they went back to Michigan, teasing Sam for the remaining four hours and something of their drive.

* * *

In Michigan, the scenery hadn't changed much. There was still a beautiful girl locked up and a mean uninterested policeman guarding her. Occasionally he would go out, come back and sit down again. This time, he came back and walked right up to her cell.

"Hanna Lynd?"

The girl raised her head in surprise.

"You're free to go." the still uninterested policeman opened her cell and she went out not very sure of what the hell was going on. Specially because what she heard.

"Where did you get that name?"

"Same person who bailed you off. Does the name.. 'Dean Winchester' mean anything to you?"

The girl stopped at the guard's face waiting for the moment he would burst into laughter and say it was a joke - that moment never came, obviously. She then had to take some time to think and answer his question

"No." she concluded turning around to leave "No, it doesn't."

She felt the muscles in her face started producing something similar to a smile, that was her queue to flee.


	7. Miss Fourth of July

Sam had left to run some errands. The younger brother was always the automatically-proclaimed food provider of the household (or cheap motel room above a bar that served nothing but liquids), but only because Dean couldn't shop for food to save his life - and consequently, no one else's - he always came back with more-than-enough-junk than actual eatable food. Well, at least _he_ thought he made an effort. But there were good things about giving this kind of responsibility to Sam, although he would have ground to complain to Dean about how he barely collaborated to their living situation, it meant that Dean got to spend some quality time by himself, which could mean all alone or "in the good company of a lady". This time it was the first one.

He stretched a little and just laid there on that awful bed, nothing but the sound of drunk men yelling downstairs, glasses breaking, windows opening... someone climbing through the now-opened window (?!)... He opened his eyes and stood still to listen, he carefully started to raise his head enough so he could see a figure that was indeed breaking and entering that fine establishment. Dean didn't waste a second and rapidly proceeded to grab the stranger's arm, trying to immobilize the person from behind. However, as soon as he felt the tiny wrist slipping through his fingers and was thrown against the wall by a force that leveled his own he knew who it was. Although the lights were off, the full moon lit that particular area of the room and confirmed his suspicions.

"Hanna."

She was too close for him to say it in a normal tone of voice, since she was pressing herself against him to hold him still, her name came out in a whisper.

"I owe you something, don't I?" she was also speaking under her breath. He just stood there not understanding. If she knew where they were, couldn't she just mail the paper? Or come at a normal hour, knock on the door, deliver it and begone? "You know why..." now she was reading his mind too? How? He felt the closer her face got, and it _was_ getting closer, the less he had anything to think about.

Fireworks.

Actual fireworks made Dean jump out of his car seat, waking up in awe. Sam was snoring on the passenger's seat. A perturbed Dean started the engine and drove off, trying to leave his troubles behind. A few hours later, make that five, the sun was up and so was Sam.

"Tell me again: why did you have trouble sleeping...?"

"Freakish fireworks everywhere... Dunno how anyone can get any sleep." Dean looked at his brother with envy, he could sleep through a war if he felt like it. Dean was also irritated, not only because he didn't get a good sleep but also because Fourth of July was coming, which meant those fireworks throughout the night were just a preview test for the real thing, accounting for another sleepless night.

"Listen, we could stop somewhere and relax today. I actually have some catching up to do on some stuff not that my computer is 'virus-free'"

The mention of 'the virus' also brought back the Hanna-issue in Dean's mind. "Yeah, we'll stop somewhere, don't worry." Lack of sleep made his brother cranky, that was it.

* * *

They found a nice small coastal town when afternoon came, where it'd be accidentally good for watching fireworks should they give into that tradition. But as soon as the Winchesters entered the local sports-bar, Dean knew firework watching would be the least of his priorities. With all those gorgeous women gathered, his chances of erasing strange dreams with dreamy strangers were improving. They all seemed fairly interested in the brothers and kept on eyeing them. Sam felt an uncomfortable feeling, understand: its not that he didn't like women, on the contrary, he was just more socially awkward than most men with his good looks.

Dean on the other hand was happy to be approached by a magnificent blonde. And since the only thing that could get Dean back into a nicer happier self was, besides good sleep, getting none by getting some, Sam excused himself saying he'd find something, somewhere... Dean wasn't really listening until the blonde beauty spoke.

"So, what brings you to town, stranger?" her voice indicated, putting it simply, that Dean was getting lucky tonight.

"Fireworks" he answered with _that_ smile.

"Where are we watching it?" she came closer to him, skillfully sliding her hand all over him.

"I was thinking of making some." yeah, he won her. She smiled in complicity.

Sam found the only modest hotel in the city, but he didn't stick to there long because, knowing Dean, him and the blonde couldn't be that far behind. He decided to explore the town, see if he could find any internet-cafe to use his computer. As he walked deeper into the city, he noticed the augmentation of old male presence and the almost non-existence of female one. But that wouldn't bother him so much, why should it. He sat down somewhere, he might not need the internet after all but he would give a while of privacy to his older brother. And he did like the idea of watching the spectacle of the Fourth by that beautiful bay.

His brother was right, it didn't take Blondie any time to find that hotel or the room. Dean kissed her with heat, but it was only in response to her passion. Somehow he couldn't concentrate even at that, but he had experience to back him up so he undressed quite naturally. She threw him in bed but didn't join.

"Wait here, I have a surprise for you..." she went with all her sassiness into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Dean was more relaxed now that he could focus his mind on wondering about her surprise. Couldn't be a surprise really, he'd seen it all. He stretched and waited with his eyes closed. He was hyped with endorphin and adrenalin, but he somehow felt a little tired, almost weak.

"She wants you dude, congrats."

That was _not_ the sexy voice of someone coming from the bathroom. No, that was a different sexy voice and it was in the room. He got up quickly and to his dismay there she was, it was the worst timing for a deja vu but she didn't seem to know that, or to mind, in case she knew.

"What the...-!?"

"Did you notice you _always_ ask me that when we meet?"

"That's cause you only appear when you're not-supposed-to!"

"Oh, Blondie? Don't worry, she still has a good five minutes in there. I'll be gone before she knows it." she blinked and approached him carelessly. Dean covered a bit of himself, he didn't get in his underwear for her and he sure did not want to continue that random dream sequence. Okay, maybe it wouldn't be _so _bad, he did think about it until he found out she was a psycho supernatural hunter who liked to con him.

"I owe you..." oh god, it was like the dream "...this." and she handed him a folded paper.

Dean recognized it from that time in prison, he nodded with his head in a sign of thanks.

"I'll leave you to your affairs now" the brunette turned around to leave through the front door. She took a side serious glance at the bathroom door before bolting. Dean took a good look at the paper, that look followed a frown.

When Blondie came out of the bathroom a minute later wearing a tricky and very revealing lingerie, she found the room empty. And while regular girls would take that as a personal indication that they should swallow that awkward situation with ice cream and sad movies, Blondie took anger to the next level and smashed the lampshade with her fist. Now, there's normal anger and there's the kind of obsessive hatred that was showing all over her not-so-pretty-now-face. Outside, the sound of fireworks seemed to reflect the explosions happening inside that tiny room.


	8. This Ain't A Love Song

_**Note from the author:**__ Any delay shall be compensated soon._

* * *

A loner. That would be the first word to come to the mind of anyone who saw that tall handsome guy all alone watching the fireworks from the beach. Not that anyone was passing by to witness that, strangely that coastal town was a town of few, non-interactive, individuals. Sam could probably be a good fit there were he not so determined, secretly determined that is, to get his old normal peaceful life back. He wouldn't discuss that with Dean anymore naturally, the other dozen times were enough for Sam to realize his brother couldn't hear of it, at least not until they found what they were looking for. And after all the brothers had seen, he thought it would be specially hard for Dean to find his normal lifestyle seeing, contrary to Sam, he never had one. Its true Dean did try to get some normal relationships, as normal as they could be in their lives, but if those started to shape well, they would eventually lead to misery. That's why both of them made an option to keep away from commitment: Sam was committed to be alone until it was all over; Dean figured it would never be over and engaged in meaningless interactions with the opposite sex, as was the case with the blondie he was probably interacting with as Sam watched the artificial lights in the sky.

It is really hard though to watch anything up above when down below, floating on the beach and getting closer washed by the waves, was a large _something_. After observing from a distance and concluding that, whatever that was, it was not going to move for it was probably dead, Sam got closer. It was indeed a lifeless body. The boy finished dragging it to the sand and took a good look at it: a man, and that was all he could be sure about. The body had all its fat drained, its skin floppy around bones; the eyes were bulging as if he had imploded, all that seemed to point out he had been dead for a while. He looked old too. But the corpse didn't smell of anything, and the teeth were as good as a teenager's.

Sam spent that whole afternoon reviewing the files he typed and encrypted based on his father's notes. There was no need to question if this was a supernatural doing, so he tried to juggle his memory for clues of what could have done something like this. To be fair, he didn't have much time to think about it.

* * *

A few moments before Sam found the body, Dean was bursting out of the motel room in a much faster way than he actually got there. He seemed so determined in moving forward that the girl observing him from a corner highly doubted he even remembered what brought him there in the first place. On that note, anyone observing _her_ face would detect a note of contempt. No one could see her though: as soon as Hanna claimed to leave the front door of Dean's room, she hid on the first corner with a privileged view of the door she had just closed behind her. As soon as she observed the older Winchester storm away, she went on her way, discreetly following him.

He walked fast as he went around town, starting with the local 'only-spot-with-internet', hitting the bar, the library... It was clear he was trying to find his brother. Finally, as the loud fireworks kept on going, he walked towards the beach. Dean didn't have to look too much to find an unpopulated area (strangely) and had no trouble finding his brother either: he watched as Sam kneeled down next to a strange and disgusting something.

"Sammy!"

Sam was spooked to say the least, he was not expecting anyone - much less his brother, who would never walk out on a blonde (or a red haired, or a brunette, or...). But he didn't have time to question him either. Dean got close to the body and looked even more disgusted than Sam was at first.

"I was ready to ask what was that but maybe its better to question-"

"What did this to him? Dean, remember dad's notes about the-"

"Hate to interrupt dad's whatever but there's something more important I have to discuss with you." Those words were hard for Sam to understand. Dean never thought there was anything more important than his dad's notes and the mysteries those helped solve. Whatever it was, it was on that piece of paper Dean practically glued to Sam's eyes. It was a symbol, but it was so up-close the younger brother could not understand what he was supposed to be looking at.

"This is the same symbol mom wore around her neck."

Sam adjusted his vision. He had no memory of his mom's pendant of course, seeing that symbol made him feel a little closer to her though.

"But there's a number, see? I need you to do your nerd thing and tell me what it is." which was maybe expecting a lot from Sam were he not the brilliant person he was:

"It looks like latitude-longitude." he got off his cellphone and used it to find the location. "Greenville, Illinois"

"Mom was born in Lawrence."

"Then we have to find whatever the hell is in Greenville."

Realizing not everything in life was that simple, Sam searched for more answers with his brother "Where did you say you found that piece of paper again?"

Dean would have had a hard time answering that. He'd have to tell his brother about that day with Carter, about bailing Hanna out and about meeting her again a few minutes ago. Sam did not trust her one bit, Dean liked to think he didn't either but deep down he felt he could so he did. None of that had to emerge right away though.

Someone else answered Sam's question.

"Not with me."

The abandoned blonde was back, looking not so pretty and very much pissed off.

"I see you found Bill. A pity really, he was yummy but so weak. Couldn't take half the stamina I was sure you could, my darling."

Bill was obviously the forgotten corpse lying next to the brothers.

"Siren." Sam labeled her.

"That's right. And I was ready to make your brother my new meal until _something_ broke my spell."

"What the hell is she talking about Sammy?!"

"She's a siren. They compel their victims and drain energy from them through sex, when they die the sirens eat all their body fat."

"I was compelled?!"

"I needed a few minutes to let the 'song' sink into your brain, you'd have loved me..."

"That's when you went to the bathroom?!"

"During that time something happened. How did you snap out of my compelling?!"

Dean remembered Hanna came into the room and that was it, but she didn't do anything... Or did she?

"I was going to suck your energy, it would have been pleasant. But now I'll have to contempt myself with the body fat the two of you can offer, shame..."

"How do you kill a siren again? Yeah, golden-locks, I hate to break it to you but we're not your regular clientele."

And as fast as only the brothers could be, they proceeded to cut the siren's throat, killing her instantly.

"Let's get rid of the rest of these bitches and get going, we have to get to Illinois."

* * *

Hidden, Hanna observed as the Winchesters made their way to free the town from the Siren reign. She didn't follow them, she already knew where they were going next. She turned around and faced a handsome man.

"How did you know they'd understand that clue?"

"You never have to question my knowledge of them."

"I gave Dean the paper like you asked, I'm not questioning anything."

"Good. And now you'll be compensated with the information they'll find in Greenville."

"Why can't you just tell them yourself?"

"I don't know everything there's to know in there. Besides, they have a sense of justice that you don't." Hanna was slightly offended by that comment. "There are many things I need to do with which they wouldn't agree, they'd never trust me." The handsome man seem to ponder for a little while until he turned to her again "But Dean seems to trust _you_, I wonder if that has anything to do with you saving his life so many times. Good call by the way, breaking the Siren song."

"It was not on purpose."

"Don't expect me to believe you don't know that when a woman appears to a man, who hasn't been compelled yet, she breaks the Siren song and keeps said man from getting infatuated by the Siren... Of course you didn't do that for your own infatuation...?-"

"You said he was important to you."

"He is. And he and his brother are important to you too. They are the key to finding what you're looking for."

"Yes. That's why I'm following them to Greenville."

"Don't forget: if they learn about this, you'll never get anything."

She was already angry at the prepotent man.

"I know what happens! John Winchester already disappeared. They are my only hope now."

"Then use them wisely."

"Stop telling me what to do, Michael! I did what you said, you gave me the brothers. Our deal ends here."

The archangel vanished away and each party prepared themselves to reach Greenville.

* * *

_**For the next chapter: **__Forget everything you know about Supernatural, it will just confuse you as we enter the core storyline of this fanfic. Kindly, the author._


	9. Pictures Of You

It was a long ride to Greenville, Illinois. The brothers haven't said much to each other, although one of them was rather curious as to how they ended up there. Dean would unskillfully change the subject every time Sam asked him about how he got that paper. He finally gave up asking and after that there wasn't much room for any other discussions. Both were considering what they would find there and if it would get them closer to their life's mission.

"So, where should we start?"

"The library?"

"Ugh, I knew you'd say that..."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"I've still got our fake FBI IDs in the back, we could suit up... ask people around... get to know them? Huh? What do you say?"

"Or we could just find out about the symbol, go straight to the issue and save ourselves some gas..."

"You're so boring. I'll have you know the ladies dig me in that disguise!"

"Charlie said the same thing at Comic Con."

Sam waited. He knew that argument just secured him the library.

"Fine, but if we don't find anything..."

"I'll pay for your beer, don't worry."

* * *

The Greenville Public Library looked small on the outside and was even smaller on the inside. This could be a good thing: less things to research over, or a bad thing: less things to research over. Sam immediately went to the local history section while Dean was off to practice his unorthodox method of research. He walked straight to the librarian who, lucky for him, was a middle-aged female (forever single judging by the cat in the portrait on her desk), the kind of person Dean could sweet-talk into giving him information - however cruel that might sound.

"Hello there.. Layla." He read on her name tag.

She looked at him like most women look at him, with sparkly eyes and a big wide smile. Dean Winchester was better than Christmas.

"H-hi... Can I uh.. do anything for you?"

"If you could Layla, that would be great." She was happy. "You see, I wanted to know where can I find information about this symbol here."

She looked at the paper and her expression changed. The librarian looked at Dean a little somber, slightly scared. Dean tried to regain her affections by smiling the Dean Smile and blinking to her, none of which worked much too well.

"Are you a cop?"

"Uumm... no... I just..." He didn't know what to say, but he sure was relieved he left his suit and badge behind.

"Hey Dean, I think I found something!" Sam walked in that strange scene. "What did you do now?"

"Adam?" The woman's face turned extremely pale at the sight of Sam. She stared at them both in a fight-or-flight mode, it was like she was seeing a ghost.

"My name is Sam. I don't know what my brother did but we mean no harm."

The way he spoke was so soothing that she believed him, keeping her guard up but feeling infinitely more relieved.

"I'm sorry, I got you confused with someone else... You look just like him."

"This Adam, do you know where we can find him?"

"You can't. He's dead."

They had found their first clue.

"I thought you knew that, you're holding the family crest. That poor boy... the whole family, really, a tragedy. Around here we say that the Campbell family is cursed."

At the mention of the name, Dean had to take a moment to let that sinking feeling in his stomach finish its way down. But that was not all. "I thought the Campbells were from Kansas..."

Sam went over to the librarian's desk and opened an old yearbook. There was a colorless picture of a girl's sports team, right in the middle there was a beautiful young lady with blonde hair, Dean's eyes and Sam's smile.

"Mom?" the older Winchester had his throat completely dry now.

"Where can we find something about Mary Campbell?" Sam kept his cool.

The woman still didn't understand much, but she knew she could feel sorry for the brothers standing in front of her. "You should talk to her brother. The only surviving Campbell in Bond county..."

* * *

The Impala pulled over an isolated house in the suburbs of the town, the address given by Layla. If the drive over to Greenville had been quiet, the drive over to Mr. Campbells house was completely soundless. But Dean couldn't take it all in like that.

"Are we about to meet our uncle?" he asked his brother.

"Mom never mentioned him?"

"Mom never mentioned anyone, its a miracle we know her maiden name!"

They approached the entrance and try to call out for Mr. Campbell, there was no answer. Same thing with the doorbell. Dean twisted the doorknob, the door was unlocked.

"Dean, don't you think we shouldn't barge in like that?"

"We do it all the time."

"Yeah, but this is family." whispered Sam.

"I think you got your notions a little messed up, bro'."

They both came in with caution, calling for their uncle as to justify their breaking in should anyone see them. The interior of the house was dark and old, suitable for a man who lived through a family tragedy. They saw a row of family portraits aligned on a table. Dean picked up one of the pictures: it was Mary holding a baby and a young boy smiling next to her. Before he had the chance to put the picture down (or in his pocket as he was tempted to do), a gun shot made a whole on the wall next to him. The Winchesters went for cover as the man continued to shoot, almost hitting them. Each gunshot was a yell "Demons! Get out of my house! There's nothing more here! Get out!"

They boys were yelling at the old man to stop shooting, they each had their hands up, Dean had the portrait still in his hands. The man, seeing that, stopped shooting at pointed his gun at Dean.

"Why are you holding that?!"

Dean didn't move, Sam tried to approach the old man with caution.

"Mr. Campbell...?"

The man immediately turned the gun towards Sam and was ready to shoot him.

"Adam...?" suddenly the gun felt heavy in his hands and he laid it low. He was even more pale than the librarian had become and began trembling and tearing up a little. Out of the blue though, he felt a wave of rage and pointed the gun back at him with determination.

"These tricks don't work with me anymore!"

"Ow ow ow! Hold on! Hold on! Don't shoot! We're not demons!" Dean approached, still holding the picture. The man could finally see which picture Dean was holding. He looked at the boys in front of him in awe. He was tearing up again.

"D-Dean...? And... Sam?"

"Yeah..."

Mr. Campbell couldn't take it any longer. He dropped the gun and went to hug Dean.

"I thought I'd never see you again, my boy..."

Dean didn't know what to do, he felt emotional.

"You look so much like your mother..." then he turned to Sam "and you, you look like my Adam."

* * *

The boys learned over beer (that in the end Sam didn't have to pay) that Adam Campbell was their deceased cousin. He had died along the rest of their family, locked up in a house that burned down.

"I was on my way to visit you in Lawrence, Mary had just passed away. When I got there, you were already gone, your father had taken you. Not one day later, I received the news that the whole family was caught in a fire with no survivals."

That was clearly a hard subject for him. "It was the work of demons."

Dean and Sam now knew for sure that this was a person who knew everything.

"I don't know why they went after our family, maybe it was revenge... We've been supernatural hunters for a while. I wasn't and neither was Adam. Meanwhile your mother was the best there was... I begged pa' to leave her out of this life, I even brought her here for a while to live with me, have a taste of normalcy... But father wouldn't hear of it. When she married John, I thought she'd finally have some peace, raise you kids right...

Imagine my surprise when a few months after her death, I learn your father had become a hunter and that you boys were tagging along! He came to me years later, he wanted to know everything I knew about the demons and angels that made Mary's life so miserable. You were not with him anymore, that was in..."

"2005?"

"Yeah, something around that. I blame that Lloyd boy from Chicago, he can't keep his mouth shut to you. Not half as classy as his dad was."

Dean thought this could be partially true, considering how easily he got Hanna's name with him.

"So, what did you tell him then?"

"I told him what I'm gonna tell you now: get out of this. Mary can't be avenged, my Adam can't be avenged. Just live your lives."

"Well that's gonna be a problem. This is our lives, you can either help us or not. But don't expect us to walk away from it."

"John said the exact same thing..." he looked hopelessly at both boys. "Your mother would be very disappointed..." he got up and went to the door

"Come. Let's go talk to her."


	10. What's Left Of Me

_Children shouldn't play with dead things._

That's what was left of Mary Winchester in Greenville, Illinois. The truth carved in the cold stone that marked her memorial.

"In the end, this was the only way my little sister could be close to me."

The boys couldn't make any sound, they could swear that if they did their mother's presence would go away. They remained silent, heads down, each waiting for the other to break that stillness. Mr. Campbell decided that his presence was not helping the boys in their comfort.

"I'll leave you two to... talk. Meet me at the house later."

A moment more passed like the one before, Dean knew what his brother was thinking.

"We need to know, Sammy." he looked sideways at him, Sam was tearing up.

"'Children shouldn't play with dead things'..." Sam said more to himself than anyone else.

"We're not children anymore, Sam."

"We never were." he looked back at his brother, from that moment on Sam knew he had to bury his dreams of 'what could have been' deep where no one would peek, next to his mother's memories, six feet under.

* * *

"Dean?!" a female voice in high pitch called as the Winchesters were leaving the graveyard. Dean turned around in confusion, "Oh my god! It _is_ you!" and the beautiful figure of a red-haired girl jumped at him for an enthusiastic embrace. "It's me - Anna! Liddy Walsh's daughter!"

"Of course... Anna Walsh...!" Truth to be told, Dean had _no_ memory of Anna Walsh. He remembered Liddy Walsh, his mother's best friend. Did she have a daughter? But the girl hugging him was so gorgeous, what the hell! Anna Walsh it is.

"Let me take a good look at you! Wow, you grew tall!"

Poor Sam was way too confused: on one hand there was a girl fan-girling his brother and on the other, there was his brother looking at him with the expression of a question mark. Dean tried to keep the fake at all costs.

"So... how have you been? How's... aunt Liddy?"

"Oh, she passed away a few years ago... I'm here visiting her grave."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Not really, he couldn't remember anything about that girl.

"Why are you here? I thought you never left Kansas. I remember when mom and I went to visit one summer, you said there was no way you were ever leaving Lawrence."

He did?

"Yeah... that must have been-was, was a long time ago. Sam hadn't even been born yet... right?"

The girl finally took notice of Sam. She extended her hand to shake his.

"Hello, I'm Anna Walsh. You can say I'm Dean's childhood friend."

"Nice to meet you Anna."

"Nice to meet you Sam." That was uncomfortable. The girl smiled alright but Sam felt such coldness in that greeting that his immediate reaction was to put his hands back in his pockets once it was over.

"Are you here visiting uncle Campbell? How long are you staying?"

Boy could she talk...

"Not long, we just passed by to give him a quick hello."

She patiently awaited.

"In fact, we're just on our way back to his house now, if you-"

"So, we really have to go, it was nice meeting you Anna." Sam cut Dean's intentions of asking Anna to come with, that part was clear.

Dean was still pissed off at him when they reached a safe distance to discuss without being heard.

"What was that?! I was gonna invite her to lunch!"

"Dean be reasonable. I don't think we can discuss demons and death when Miss Sunshine there is clinging all over you."

"She wouldn't be there long! I'm sure our uncle would be happy to see her... given he remembers her, 'cause I have no clue who that girl is!"

"What?"

"Summer? Visiting us? Forever in Lawrence? I don't remember that!"

"Then why were you...?"

"Sammy, let's face it: the last time I tried to get laid I almost got compelled-slash-killed by a Siren. At least this girl is harmless! And she's hot."

Sam couldn't do much better than rolling his eyes over his brother for being himself.

* * *

"So, those are the Winchesters."

"You know what to do?"

"It'll be easy."

"There's another thing: a girl, a hunter, she might come your way."

"Your orders?"

"We can still use her, just don't let her get close to them."

"And if she does?"

"Kill her too."

"As you wish, Michael."


	11. Lie To Me

_**From your author: **__Any similarities with scenes from the series are absolutely intentional._

_To Ms Morgan Elizebeth Jacobs, I hear you._

* * *

"I need some air." Dean was out the Campbell house within seconds of finishing the conversation with his uncle. It was intense, with no pauses and no anecdotes - the worst kind. Sam felt bad but somehow being with his uncle, knowing he was family, made him digest those stories better. And while his brother felt claustrophobic and had to leave, Sam welcomed Mr. Campbell's idea of spending quality time in lighter activities from then on.

The older Winchester was specially annoyed at the fact that Greenville was such a small town that he had to park his baby in the garage. Anything he needed was within a walking distance and his car-therapy was hence not possible. Walking away from that house, Dean had no idea where his unaccustomed feet were taking him. He just knew he didn't want to be around anyone. Or at least he thought he knew.

"Anna!" he spotted the girl in gym clothes walking around the town square.

"Dean! Taking a walk?"

"Not like this city leaves much option..."

"Half true."

"Meaning?"

"You can always run." and blinking at him, the girl started running. Her long glorious hair in sync with the summer breeze was invitation enough for Dean to run after her. They cut the city and followed the path to a hill. Dean had to catch his breath.

"Damn, you're fast...!"

"Never had to use a car."

"Clearly" Seeing her perform this kind of exercise without even sweating, made Dean think of all the other things she could perform this well. She caught him looking at her and pointed to the horizon with a smile.

They were not too high but it was possible to see the whole Greenville industrial park, the town itself was already behind them. He liked that view.

"I wanted you to see this." said the girl kindly.

"Yeah?"

"You look like you need some peace of mind."

He liked that she noticed. With that gleam of a feeling of partnership, it was like Dean could almost grasp his memories of his childhood friend back. He could have easily shared his distant past's happy moments with her.

"You're not here just to visit uncle Campbell, are you?"

He couldn't stare at her and lie about it.

"I don't wanna..- I can't talk about it."

"I know."

He believed she did.

"But if I may say something..." she looked at him for permission, which he conceived. Dean liked hearing her talk.

"When my mother died, I thought I'd never recover. I can't imagine what it must be like for you to loose your entire family like that but... you are alive."

"Its more complicated than that."

"I know. But you're not alone. That's all I'm trying to say." she paused and got closer to him "Someday you should be able to have a good life and find happiness somewhere..." The girl caressed his face with her long pale fingers "with someone...?"

At the mention of that, Dean should have been mesmerized. It was his queue, she'd given him the green light. But something caught his attention. Far behind them, across the field, he thought he saw something move.

"What is it?"

To be fair, it was worse than that actually. He was certain he had seen _someone_ rather than something. But Anna didn't want to let her moment pass and directed his face to her, planting a passionate kiss on his mouth.

"Let them look." she suggested after she was sure she caught his attention back.

Dean took her by her tiny waist and kissed her like he was supposed to, full on the mouth. Inspired by his hands on her hair and by the heat of the moment and of that day, she started lifting his shirt. He wanted that since the moment he laid eyes on her but he also had the cool head to reason that, after what he heard from his uncle, he couldn't do this to her. He stopped her (using all the self-restraint he could gather).

"Anna I..."

She looked at him disappointed.

"Its just.. I have to leave. I can't do this to you." and using the very rest of his will power, he left her behind.

"I hate summer." It _was_ Dean's most vulnerable season.

* * *

Despite never truly having had a family, Dean and Sam Winchester knew that it was part of the ritual to have meals together, share stories (which in their case revolved more around tragedies and other-worldly tales), browse through albums (the very few left) and most importantly: accept accommodation arrangements. After long periods on the road, Sam was ready to sleep in the comfort of an actual bed, and there was yet to exist something more sacred than Sam's sleep. Uncle Campbell pointed them to a modest room upstairs.

"How convenient he has two beds."

"This is a big house, Dean. Stop with the conspiracy."

Dean was less relaxed than his brother when dealing with the uncle. He felt the man was a little too paranoid and strange. But every family has 'one', or so he'd heard. Knowing this however did not make it easier for him to fall asleep. At the sound of his brother's snoring and of the summer storm heavily falling outside, Dean decided he couldn't sleep even though he felt extremely tired. He got up and tried to go downstairs without making any noise (because let's face it: waking up a Campbell-Winchester by surprise can be deadly). He went to seek comfort in the closed garage, with his Impala that he missed so much after almost 24 hours apart. Dean opened the front door but instead of seating on the driver's seat, he thought he could sleep on the backseat - where there was no snoring (other than his own), no crazy uncle, no unsettling feeling of family tragedy and no- And he was on the floor before he could blink, with a knife on his throat.

"Winchester?!"

"YOU PSYCHO BITCH!" he yelled after the blade was safely away.

"Shhhh! Do you wanna wake everybody up?!"

"I know you get that _all the time_ but: you're-NOT-supposed-to-be-HERE."

"I thought you were someone else."

"This is _MY_ car, who else could it be?!"

"Well, I got in!"

"Again, you were not supposed to! What _are_ you doing here anyway?!"

"Bantering with you, apparently."

"I meant in Greenville, yet another place you're not supposed to be at."

"I came for the weather."

"You've gotta be kidding me...!" He was frustrated at the (lack of) answers he was getting.

"I'm telling you, I couldn't sleep outside with all that rain!"

"Hanna!" He was very frustrated, he needed her to stop with that.

However angry he got at her, the rain part was true - she was dripping. Dean knew by now she could play that evasive game all night so he thought of trying another tactic. He held the door of the car open and gestured for her to get in. She didn't understand that kindness, moreover, she didn't let herself trust it.

"You can't sleep outside and I can't sleep. At least talk to me." He explained.

She went inside and sat on the backseat, he sat next to her and waited.

Inside her mind, Hanna went over the ways she could get away and decided the best policy was...

"I overheard you and your brother on the beach last time, you two sounded so determined to come I thought there was something big out here..."

"Big like what?"

"Like lots of cash if I solved it first. - Imagine my surprise when I come out here and find absolutely nothing."

Lying about everything.


	12. Get Ready

_**Note from the author:**__ The first part of this chapter was written with "My Oldest Friend" by Andrew Belle playing on the background - a happy coincidence I thought I'd share._

* * *

"Will you stop fidgeting?! Its small enough for two people."

"It fits three.."

"It's small."

"Says the woman driving a motorcycle."

"My motorcycle is a Harley, it's not _any_ motorcycle."

"It's not _yours_ either."

And they went silent again for a while.

"So, what are _you_ doing here, besides misleading me to the place-Google-forgot?"

"Why should I tell you? You didn't say anything truthful up until now."

"Fine." She'd rather be quiet than tell him anything.

Dean was fidgeting because that's what he usually did when he felt pressured by uncomfortable silence. The reason why no one ever saw him do that was because he never felt pressured by uncomfortable silence. After his third time adjusting on the seat, she decided to end his misery.

"You know, you don't have to tell me...I followed you to the cemetery this morning." she looked at him sideways, half-expecting him to give her more details. He caught that look.

"My mother. Well, technically her memorial."

She didn't voice the usual condolences.

"I knew you were in it for revenge."

"Because you are too?"

She stiffened.

"You know, you don't have to tell me..." he repeated her words, turning tables "its obvious you are. Only people driven by revenge can take night after night sleeping with one eye open..."

"Both my eyes were closed until you showed up."

"You know what I mean: living in fear that any second the thing you're hunting will hunt you back. Always looking over your shoulder, no chance to be vulnerable."

"You seemed pretty vulnerable when I knocked you down to the floor." she was still using sarcasm in hopes this conversation wouldn't get too personal. Dean shouldn't like the comment, he was too proud to be okay with anything as humiliating, yet he caught himself amused. Though he was tired, he felt like keeping this debate a while longer.

"You know how you always seem?"

"Stunning?"

"_And_ scared."

She didn't like that. Probably because if anyone in the world was prouder than Dean, it was Hanna. She was irritated.

"How long are you gonna keep me in this car?"

"There's a door right next to you, be my guest."

She considered it but she also considered this car was the most comfortable rest she had in days. Dean decided to stop poking the wild animal for now.

"I was also hunting alone once, after my father pulled his disappearing act."

She listened, there seemed to be no other option.

"I tried my best not to involve Sam in all of this but... I just couldn't. I was not afraid of facing dangerous stuff or of dying really, it was more like 'if something happens to me, I want it to matter to someone'. It was selfish, its true but-"

"It wasn't." Hanna interrupted unexpectedly. She understood how that felt and Dean understood that. He also had an inkling that telling that story was changing something in her, at least a little bit, so he continued.

"Sammy had a normal life, he's miserable doing what we do, refuses to call it a job. But despite it all, I was relieved when he came with me."

There was a pause, a brief moment when Dean considered he might have shared too much. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

"I need information on Azazel."

Dean was so stunned at that sudden honesty that he had to stop for a minute. The mention of that name was also reason enough for him to choke for a second or two.

"What? You wanted the truth!" Hanna said defensively.

"I know its just.. I didn't expect it."

"Well...?"

He didn't know how to begin answering that.

"Why?" so he decided to begin with another question. She was not comfortable when the conversation landed on her, Dean already noticed that. But what was really keeping her from answering was what Michael had told her _"Don't forget: if they learn about this, you'll never get anything." _Would that be true? She thought Dean was lucky for having a brother on whom he could rely on, she never had that luxury and she decided she wouldn't get it today. She remained silent, hoping he'd just tell her. But, of course, he didn't.

"Did he kill your parents?"

"No." and he wouldn't get anymore than that.

"Who gave you that paper?"

"Will you let that go?!"

"Will you trust me?!"

"Your problem is you trust too many people."

"What? What 'people' would that be?"

"Why should I tell you? You didn't say anything useful up until now." now she was quoting him.

"I'm assuming you're talking about what happened on the hills today...?"

"What are _you_ talking about?"

"This afternoon."

"I was doing some research on the side this afternoon. I never went to any hills."

He felt relieved she was not talking about Anna, he didn't need another supernatural girl trying to kill him. But then who was that he saw?

"Sam says I shouldn't trust you."

"Is that why you won't tell me?" He didn't answer, but she knew it was. "He's right." she admitted.

Dean faced her now, sustaining her defying look.

"Azazel is dangerous." that information didn't seem new to her. "Why are you doing this, Hanna? Seriously."

He wasn't going to talk, not tonight, so she came closer to him: "Seriously?" she asked in a whisper. Dean was too concentrated in that moment to avoid her one quick move, with which she thrust a needle in his neck. He fell asleep immediately.

"I seriously can't tell you."

* * *

The next morning, the sun was out again. Dean woke up inside the Impala on the exact position he'd have slept. There was no sign of Hanna, or of her ever being there, but he knew for sure he didn't dream that conversation... right? He heard Sam calling his name from the house, they were looking for him. He emerged from the car.

"Why are you here?"

"I came to see my baby." Considering what he remembered of last night, that came out very wrong.

"Did you sleep in the car?"

"Uhmm... sure. Why not."

"Dean..."

"Yeah?" Dean was all casualty and evasion.

"Did you meet Anna last night?"

"What? No."

"Dean, you can't cross the line with her. You're gonna end up leaving her heart broken."

"I didn't. Okay? I met her yesterday afternoon and told her we were leaving and that was the last I saw of her."

"I thought you went out to ventilate..."

"I did, I just met her coincidentally."

"That's why our uncle couldn't find you."

"Our uncle?"

"He went out looking for you sometime after you left, he thought he'd talk to you."

Something passed by Dean's mind at that moment (_"you trust too many people"_).

"Sammy..." he looked at his younger brother with gravity.

"And I'd still like to talk to you Dean." said the uncle approaching them. "Why don't we take a walk, you and I? Sam can wait here."

Sam was okay with that. He treated his uncle like Dean treated their father, with ultimate respect and affection. Dean followed the old man out of the house deciding that whatever it was, leaving Sam out of it was the right thing to do.

The uncle led him back to the cemetery. Once they both stopped in front of Mary's memorial, Dean observed as his uncle looked sadly at the gravestone.

"Are you really my uncle?" the boy asked.

"Yes, of course." that was true.

"Why did you wanna talk out here?"

"Because... I have to do a terrible thing." He almost choked with grief, that was also true.

Dean prepared himself for impact.


	13. If I Was Your Mother

_**Note from the author:**_ _Attention must be paid.  
_

* * *

It was way too fast: one minute they were in front of Mary's grave and the next all Dean could process was his uncle's hand wrapped around his neck with an inhuman strength that pushed him through the grass and into the ground and that was it.

Of course, Dean didn't actually go under the earth. That was only what he thought had happened. From afar, Hanna observed as the uncle left an unconscious Dean on the floor and went on his way back to the house. She wasn't going after him, it was too risky confronting that man for nothing. As soon as he left, Hanna rushed to check if Dean was still breathing and found him not only perfectly fine but taking that deep breath we take once we've fell into a deep sleep.

"Great time for a nap, Sleeping Beauty..." she had no idea what to do.

* * *

"Pass the ball, Campbell! I said pass-the-ball!"

But after a split second of silence and expectation, the crowd broke into a noisy cheer for the goal scored.  
Dean was hearing that very confused, he opened his eyes to a bright morning. He was laying on the grass and soon, after he managed to get up, he realized he was just outside a fence of a school's field. An all-girls team was playing soccer and a radiant blonde had just scored a goal for her team. The coach was red with anger for the young star, Dean assumed she was the one who encouraged the pass that by the looks of it never occurred - but the whole rest of the people there was overjoyed with the girl who just won their game. The players gathered for a team picture and Dean got the feeling of _deja vu_.

"Hey, Mary!" a boy on the sidelines called for her. She turned around with the biggest smile on the planet, she clearly recognized his voice. Mary ran fast and threw her arms around him.

"Hi." she told him sweetly.

He gave her a sweet early teen smooch and put her gently on the floor.

"Campbell! Tell your boyfriend you'll meet him later. I need to talk to you _now_!"

"Gosh, she's worse than a Wraith!" she told her boyfriend in a low voice, he laughed a little, not because he knew the meaning of her words but because he knew when his girlfriend was trying to crack a joke

"I'll never know where you find these names! Catch you later, love."

The coach waited impatiently close by the fence from where Dean observed, no one seemed to notice him though the crowd had already dispersed.

"What's up, coach? Are we talking strategy for the upcoming finals?"

"You know we are (again) talking about your behavior. I know you're good, _you_ know you're good, and so does the rest of the team, the other teams, the whole school and your boyfriend."

"Geez coach, you'll make me blush."

"So tell me why is it _so_ hard for you to let the others play? I say pass the ball, you pass the ball! Some of the girls didn't even move today!"

The blonde kept silent at that observation, looking down at her feet.

"Tomorrow we'll start the trainings, you'll play defense."

"But coach-!"

"If you like playing so much, you won't mind your position. Its time you learn to work less independently. Good day, miss Campbell."

And the woman left, leaving Mary fuming behind her. The blonde turned around to look past the fence, it was then Dean remembered he shouldn't be seen. But even though the girl was right in front of him, her eyes went right through him, as if she couldn't see him.  
Dean knew he couldn't have time travelled again. Was this a dream? No. With this much detail? Maybe... a memory?

The girl decided to shake that quarrel away, shaking her head right and left and letting her beautiful locks catch the wind. She could exit by the gates like a normal girl would, but Mary Campbell was not your ordinary person: she checked if no one was around and acrobatically climbed the tall fence, landing perfectly on the other side - even Dean was impressed.

* * *

Sam had already pulled the Impala out of the garage but got tired of waiting in the car and decided to go back inside his uncle's house. He never got tired of looking at the family photos, even thought of asking to take some of them but he thought it'd be better to have a reason to come back later. It was nice having a "home" to visit.

"Sam!" he heard a female voice calling with urgency from outside the front door. But as soon as he turned around to go check, he inexplicably was surrounded by flames, the whole house was catching on fire. He couldn't think and he couldn't breathe. There was no way a normal fire could've started so fast. He tried moving towards the door but the smoke was intoxicating. He saw Anna's figure rushing towards him before he passed out.

The girl somehow managed to drag him out of the house without even sweating. She laid him on the floor, in a safe distance from the burning house and attended to him calmly.  
The uncle came walking in firm steps towards them coming to a stop a few meters away.

"Did you burn my house, demon?!" asked the uncle to the red-haired.

"Me? You should check your sources old man. I saved him."

"Are you the huntress?!"

"Huntress?" Anna asked with genuine interest.

"Step aside!"

The girl was still kneeled down next to Sam, she did not even blink. The uncle slid a dagger from his sleeve and walked towards them.

"I must kill him! I must kill him!"

With one fast movement, Anna grabbed the uncle's armed hand and plunged the dagger in his chest.

"Then you must die."

Anna was still holding the man's armed hands, firmly keeping the fatal dagger in his chest, when Sam began opening his eyes. The uncle felt flat and dead right next to him, a scene shocking enough to make him jump up.

"You killed him!"

"He was trying to kill you. I saved you."

"No. No! He wouldn't do that! He was my uncle! Who are you?!"

"I'm Anna, have you already forgotten?"

"_What_ _else_ are you?"

"I'm an Angel, Sam."

The boy was still confused, scared and angry. The house finished burning down behind him and he couldn't even remember it.

"Your uncle sold his soul... to Azazel."

"Wh-what...?!"

"Look behind you, Sam. The house on fire - he did that. He wanted to kill you."

Sam finally remembered: that fire was indeed unnatural (or supernatural?). Could she be telling the truth? But if she was...

"Where's Dean?! What did he do to him?!"

* * *

The local diner was filled with soccer enthusiasts, celebrating their latest victory and their best player. Mary's name echoed so loud, Dean could hear it from the streets outside. He saw as the celebrated girl grabbed her boyfriend's hand and discreetly conducted him outside, escaping the crowd but not Dean.

She leaned against the wall and her boyfriend took that as an invitation. He started kissing her softly and began evolving that to something more intimate. Dean did _not_ (at all) (ever) want to see anything similar to a teenage dream make out session, specially when his mother was the one pressed against the wall. He was already leaving when he heard her interrupting.

"Owen... I need to talk to you." she was serious to the point that the boy stopped kissing her and Dean felt it was safe to go back and listen.

"My parents called last night." she started. "They want me to go back to Kansas..."

Owen listened attentively and held her hand in support.

"I told them I don't wanna go back. Hell, I even put my brother on the phone with them!"

"That must have been a long phone call."

"It was! But they still won. They're coming to pick me up in two days!"

"What! They can't do that!"

"They can." she sighed, that was not all she had to say. "My brother thinks we can talk them out of it once they get here and see how well I am but- I know Samuel Campbell, he will _never_ let me stay!"

"So, what do we do?"

"Run away with me, Owen!"

Dean sure as hell didn't know _that_ part of the story, teenage angst Mary?

"Mary..."

"Don't you love me, Owen? Because I love you. I wanna have a normal life and I wanna live it with you!"

"Normal teenagers don't run away forever after..."

"But-"

"But there's nothing normal about you Mary Campbell, and that's why I love you so much."

She smiled. Dean rolled his eyes.

"We'll go tomorrow night. Take your brother's car."

"Urgh, he drives the most ridiculous car..." she said jokingly.

"Well, we can dump it and find another. What would like?"

She thought about it a while.

"A classy classic! Black."

"Sounds good."

Sounds familiar - thought Dean.

"Owen?"

"Yeah?"

"Love me forever?"

"Beyond death."

* * *

Hanna had a small bag with her, she searched frantically for something. Finally she pulled a small bottle out. That seemed to give her an idea and she started mixing some liquids.

"Hanna?"

She jumped and looked behind her.

"Sam! You're okay?!" she noticed Anna standing next to him.

"Why is Dean like this? Did you do something to him?!" he went over to check on his brother. Anna stood still looking down at the girl.

"He's fine, nerdy. He was just put into this coma by your crazy uncle." Hanna clarified without taking her attention off of Anna. She then looked back at Sam "Don't worry, I know what to do." she got up and went past Anna to search something else in another, bigger bag. Anna turned to her, speaking a low volume so Sam couldn't hear them.

"You must be the huntress the old Campbell was talking about."

Hanna, who was putting all the content in an injection container, stopped a while.

"Oh please, don't stop on my account. Though I'm sure I can think of a better solution than drugging him awake..."

"Nobody asked you...-"

"Anna."

"Unimportant. Move."

Anna observed intrigued as the girl carried the injection to the brothers.

* * *

Owen was on the floor, covered in blood. Mary screamed unconsolably, held by her mother Deanna and her brother. Her father, Samuel, shot a gun at the creature who had killed Owen. These were all flashes and soon became just voices that spoke in no order. That probably meant something was keeping Dean from being fully there.

"You'll never have a normal life, Mary."

"Owen Jones, time of death..."

"Dean, wake up!" Was that Sam?

"You better leave with dad."

"Samuel, you shouldn't have done that."

"Welcome back to Lawrence, Mary."

"You'll ruin her life mom!"

"I'm John."

"I hate you."

"Dean!" Amidst all those strange voices, his brother was indeed calling to him. He woke up suddenly, grasping for air as if he was just saved from drowning. He had his shirt opened, his chest showing. Sam was next to him and looked relieved, and Hanna held an emptied injection _and_ her breath. He looked around trying to remember how he got there. Anna was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened? Where's our uncle?!"

"He was with Azazel all along." both Dean and Hanna reacted astonished by Sam's revelation.

* * *

"You promised me Michael! Where is my Adam?!"

"You failed me."

"You promised! You'd save his soul! I did all you asked me to do! Where is my Adam?! Please!" the last Campbell was the image of pure despair.

"Join him in hell, Campbell." and the desperate man fell from purgatory to the gates of hell.

A young man was watching that unfair development.

"God would never forgive you for tricking a soul like that."

"I did this for God, Gabriel. We must prevent Lucifer from ever possessing Sam Winchester."

"Killing him in holy fire?"

"That was improvisation, I didn't expect Anna to be there. I knew Campbell had no chance if she was involved, he would ruin it all before she got a chance to kill him."

"You want them to think Azazel was responsible for the fire?"

"He could easily have done that, disgusting creature."

"You really think they can kill him?"

"If they don't, Lucifer will keep getting stronger. That can't happen."

"That's for God to decide."

Michael looked down at his younger brother.

"God can't fight this battle alone, Gabriel."

* * *

"You did a very good job, Anna."

"Thank you, sir."

"Are you sure they don't suspect anything?"

"As far as they are concerned, Heaven and Hell don't even exist."

"Perfect. We must keep it that way. Keep Sam safe and corrupt Michael's vessel."

"There is, however, another problem."

"Name it."

"A huntress, I never heard of her but Michael knew who she was, he warned the uncle."

"A third supernatural hunter..."

"Your orders?"

"I'll take care of her. Don't blow your cover over that insignificance."

"I won't. I promise."

"You an 'angel', Anna" said her correspondent with sarcasm.

"No. No, I'm not." she evil smiled at the irony.


	14. Hook Me Up

_**Note from the author:**__ I do use Google Maps occasionally to write this. Another important thing to say is that I thought it'd be nice to deal with Azazel - I've always felt he was way too important to be killed off at the end of season two._

* * *

"You know where it is, don't you?...'Kay."

Sam hung up the phone and gave it back to Dean (who, as per usual, was driving).

"Are you sure about this, Sammy?"

"Any way you look at it, keeping her away is better, don't you think?"

"What I think is that you have issues with her."

Sam had no comeback because that was the absolute truth.

"But yeah, I mean, we know she wants Azazel's head on a silver platter but she still won't tell us why."

"Well, Sammy, we didn't exactly tell her our story either..-"

"Because she already knew!"

"Yeah but-"

"_And_ you gave her all the information we had (!) What was that about?!"

"I told you..."

"You met her behind my back, yes, I believe you mentioned it Dean"

"Are we breaking up now?" Dean liked to use sarcasm to get a conversation over (as well). "And what about Anna? She told you she was an Angel and you couldn't even verify?! Or, call me crazy here Sammy, ask her what the hell did she want with us?!"

"She saved my life..."

"In exchange for what?"

"Didn't mom used to tell you that angels watched over you?"

"I don't think she meant _literally_!"

They went silent for a while, the stress built up very quickly from almost being killed by their uncle, having their uncle murdered by an angel and all of that daily life struggle. But Dean seemed eager to account for the time he was unconscious visiting memories and just kept on talking.

"Still, are you sure leading Hanna to the wrong place won't just piss her off? She can still take you, big guy."

"By the time she figures out the lead is in Kansas and not Wisconsin, we'll be too far away for her to find us - or the creature."

* * *

A few days after leaving Greenville, they received an anonymous tip that an actual _monster_ was feeding on the townspeople of Tonganoxie, KS. According to what they gathered the creature lived only on its drive to kill and was linked in both, their father's notes and their uncle's journals, to Azazel. Their uncle had told them that Azazel was connected with monsters, humans and demons in great number - "he's creating an army" Hanna later concluded. The proximity of Tonganoxie to their hometown and the existence of not one but two cemeteries in such a small city, intrigued the brothers.

At arrival they decided they'd cover more ground separately - that and Dean not wanting to visit the Tonganoxie Community Historical.

"So, we meet back here in 2 hours?"

"Call if you find anything."

Dean took off to the further part of town since he didn't believe the killer creature could actually hide in the middle of the city. He discovered the town's pump station, which looked rather abandoned and could make for the perfect place to start looking. It'd be a reasonable line of thought for anyone who saw the place: although everything seemed to be in order and working properly, the lack of human presence in a good mile radius made the station feel a little too sinister. For times like these, Dean always carried with him his essential munition of heavy yet discrete weaponry. In fact, he immediately reached for his trustworthy semi-auto and quickly directed his aim at whatever it was that spied on him from behind. Two hands were lifted to the air in a sign that the boy should not shoot.

"Guess I should stop surprising you."

Dean lowered the gun upon recognizing who it was.

Hanna lowered her hands too.

"Care to explain how did you and nerdy get so off of your path? I thought we were meeting in Wisconsin. Do you boys need a map?"

He couldn't really formulate sentences to reply. Deep down he knew he should have been expecting this, but at the same time part of him was hoping Sam's plan had worked.

Though she didn't sound angry (more like amused, actually), Dean was not gonna wait for his brother's brilliant idea to explode on his face.

"You should be talking to Sammy, the idea was all his." He decided to play smart and came a little closer - within a safe distance, of course, she might kick his ass at any moment - "Unless you prefer talking to me..." said him teasingly with half a smile. Yes, he could play that game.

"I do..." she could play it too. Close enough, she enlightened him "You're the weakest link."

That was not the reaction Dean usually got when he used his sexy seduction smile (that reduced to a not-so-contempt face after hearing what she said).

Hanna looked at Dean very seriously, almost angry.

"Did you honestly believe I'd be that stupid?"

"I was hoping you would be. We don't know what we're dealing with here."

"Clearly you're not doing a very good job finding it out."

"We just got here, speedy."

She made a sign for him to follow her. Hanna led him to the front of what seemed to be the door of a storage Dean hadn't spotted before. The smell was extremely nauseating, Dean gathered himself to finish opening the door. He almost fell on his back. Parts of human bodies were pilled up there. He went away for air and she followed.

"What are they burying if all of _that_ is here?!"

"That's what _you_ need to find out."

"What about you?!"

"I will deal with the so-called-monster. You said it yourself, I'm not very sociable."

"Are you suggesting I be okay with you going after _my_ target?"

"Oh, its yours now?"

"Damn right it is."

The girl held a determined look up to him. Dean didn't move, he was not conceding.

"I thought finding you two would help me."

"Han-"

"But it turns out thats not the case."

And she quickly managed to grab both his wrists and hook them up on the nearest conveniently located pipe.

"What-"

"Using these cuffs on a different scenario would have been more fun, don't you agree?" and she blinked at the boy locked up and unable to free himself. "You stay here, Winchester, until I'm done. And give up on Azazel, he's mine to kill."

"Wait! Hanna!"

She turned around, and for a moment he thought she was considering releasing him. Instead, she pulled his semi-auto off his back pocket and gave a quick slap on his "derrière".

"I'm keeping your Colt 1911, if you don't mind."

"Actually, I _do_ mind."

She waved goodbye with his gun as she walked away.

Dean tried relentlessly to break free from the "bitch-trap", as he mentally called it. He fell seated on the floor, waiting on something, someone or an idea that could get him out of there. Maybe he'd wait for two hours, Sam would find him.

But he didn't have to wait for another minute.

"Need some help?"

He looked up and felt instant relief.

"Cas?"

Guess angels were indeed watching over him.

* * *

Sam figured out soon enough he wouldn't find anything in books or history this time around. He went instead to check out the town just to find that at 2pm all the population (left) was camping inside the church, with locked doors despite the slightly high temperature. Now, he was completely against the Dean-methods-of-spying but he had no other choice. He approached a window to listen to whatever was going on inside. Failing to hear a single word, he decided it was safe to look through the corner of the window. A young lady was crying her heart out at the altar as a priest covered her in holy water. Further away from the trembling girl was apparently her family, who cried as well, and a boy being held by three men. He fought them hard but in the end he was overpowered and had to contempt himself with letting his head hang down in defeat.

Sam was curious enough to let his guard down for a second, which was all that it took for someone to see his head trying to learn more. Should he run? But no one moved inside the church. They didn't seem to mind him there. Weird. He wasn't going to risk it though, as Sam started to take some steps back he bumped on someone and turned around in surprise with his gun already in hands.

"We come in peace."

"Castiel..? Dean?"

"How's the sermon?"

"Not a sermon."

Castiel and Dean approached the window to look, much less discreetly than Sam had done before.

"This doesn't look like your case."

"No, it looks like yours." replied Castiel.

"Can someone fill me in here?"

"Oh yeah, fill you in, that reminds me: Hanna didn't fall for your trap and she's walking around town all black-widowy and carrying my gun. Next time, leave the scheming to the experts!"

A man came out of the church just as Dean was done unburdening that piece of information. He looked angrily and suspiciously at the trio and came back inside.

"Maybe we should find some other place to talk." suggested Castiel.

* * *

"So, Castiel is here."

"I can see that, Dean, thank you."

"I was sent down here to retrieve something for the Heavens, and found your brother handcuffed at a place that smelled like death."

"Hanna." Dean cared to explain. "She found me at the local pump station. There were rests of corpses hidden there..."

"And she managed to handcuff you?"

"Not the point, Sammy."

"So there _is_ a creature. Is that what you have to recover, Castiel?"

"Unfortunately, no. We Angels don't normally hunt things from the "other" world, its Heaven's way to keep the balance."

"But its killing people! Don't the Heavens care about that?"

"God always has a plan."

"What are you after then?"

"A third class Angel."

The boys kept their question mark faces.

"A Cherub, more specifically. I believe you humans call it 'Cupid'"

"They sent you all the way here to retrieve a fat love baby?"

"Dean..."

"All I know is that the Cupid was persuaded to work against God's orders and needs to be brought in. He came to this city, so I believe it might be the same one who..."

"Who...?"

"Who matchmaked our parents..."

"Yes."

"But why would he be here? This city is being decimated by a creature already."

"A Wendigo, if I'm not mistaken. I heard about it, but my orders are to bring the Cherub in."

"And where do we find him?"

"Right now, I'm not sure. We need to wait."

Soon, all the townspeople started going back to their business, just in time for the boys to avoid starvation at the nearest bar. Dean was just giving his second bite when Castiel announced:

"Your lady is here."

Causing the poor boy to choke at the sight of her. She sat down next to Castiel.

"Its a Wendigo, its acting weird, it won't appear until its dark and I need a drink." Excused her.

"How did you know it was a Wendigo?" asked Sam.

"Are you ever not drinking?" interrupted Dean - with no response, if one needs to add.

"Contrary to these two, I do my homework." she was talking to Castiel and ignoring the brothers as she ordered for herself. "I don't believe we've met."

"She's the she-Devil, I don't think its okay with God if you two bond." Dean told Castiel, who seemed less than interested in whatever either of them had to say.

"So, you were gonna talk about the Wendigo."

"I wasn't. Why don't you go look for some information in Wisconsin, Nerdy?"

Her comeback was knife-sharp and reminded Sam of all the reasons he disliked the girl. How could Dean be that okay with having her around?!

"You said it was acting weird." intervened Castiel.

"Yes." she paused to look at the brothers and remind them she was only talking to Castiel. "It usually keeps its victims locked up, to eat them later-"

"We all know that." cut Sam.

"_But_ this one devours them in a matter of minutes. And its taking some of the parts back to the pump station."

"You think its not hunting."

"More like it already knows who, when and where to find the victim. Its eating so fast and frequently that it has to discard some parts."

"But how would it know?"

"The church..." remembered Sam. "The priest was throwing holy water at a girl."

"Holy water?"

"Maybe it wasn't holy water, maybe its something to attract the Wendigo." concluded Sam.

"Wait a minute, you think the town is offering its people as sacrifices?!"

"Keep it down, Dean!"

"Sort of like a cult?"

"Its possible, you humans tend to do that a lot. Completely ineffective, by the way."

"So, if we get the girl, we get the Wendigo."

"What about Cupid, Cas?"

"What about fat love baby, Winchester?" asked Hanna since she didn't know about Castiel's mission.

"There was a boy in church, he was desperate for the girl. Maybe..." suggested Sam, not really answering Hanna's question.

"Maybe Cupid made a stop there." finished Dean.


	15. Always Run To You

"So, are you giving me back my gun now?"

"No."

"You're giving me back my gun now."

"No."

Dean was massaging his head in distress, trying to think of how much this girl must have been through to become such a pain in his ass. She passed by him to walk with Castiel and Sam ahead, in her back pocket was his Colt 1911 - that was on purpose.

"Screw your daddy issues, gimme back my gun!"

"You put your hands near my butt and it'll be the last thing you'll do."

"Uhhm Dean?" called Sam.

Dean looked at his brother and then ahead at his car. Someone was trying to crack it open.

"Hey!" The person started running but Dean was faster and threw the stranger on the ground. "You think you're so smart stealing my stuff, huh! Parading them around like they're yours, its NOT cool!"

"Please, please don't hurt me. I was just-"

"Just trying to take the Metallicar? Nobody takes the Metallicar!"

"Dean, enough!" Sam pulled his brother off the scared boy. He helped him up after Dean stepped back. "You're the boy from the church... The one who was crying." he recognized.

"Yeah, so?"

"Less attitude or I'll throw you back on the floor."

"Dean..."

"What did you want with my car?!"

"So obsessive about your stuff..." remarked Hanna. She kneeled down to pick up the tool the boy was using to open the car "Amateurs..." and she discarded the useless piece of plastic.

"Please, I didn't mean to steal! I mean- I need your car! I need to take her away."

"The girl from the church?"

"Yes! If I don't take her away, the devil will kill her!"

"So she _was_ marked."

"Please.."

"And where is she then?"

"We're running away as soon as the sun's down!"

"Sounds like a hell of a plan." said Dean mockingly. "You'll get both of you killed!"

"We have to try!"

"It will just go after you. She's marked!"

The boy started sobbing again. Dean felt bad and uncomfortable, he looked at his brother and Castiel.

"We could... we could help, you know."

The boy looked at him, hope back in his eyes.

"But you're gonna have to do exactly as we say." oriented Sam.

The trio looked at Hanna. She exhaled all her disagreement with the Winchester-way-of-business.

"Fine. But I'm not babysitting."

* * *

The group all headed to the girl's house, her lover would come up to her room and get her out and Dean would take them on the Metallicar and the others would follow and kill the Wendigo. The boy started climbing with the mastery of someone who's done it a thousand other times.

"He better not take his time." Dean was the most impatient of them all.

"Please let me drive the Harley."

"Relax, Nerdy. I never got a speeding ticket!"

Sam was nervous on trusting Hanna's piloting skills, but Dean wouldn't let him drive the Metallicar on a runaway and he had to stay back and make sure the Wendigo was killed before his brother or someone else was collateral damage. Of course he didn't trust the girl to do that.

Castiel was silent this whole time, very focused on feeling the presence of his own target.

Dean was about to talk to him when Castiel raised his finger in a sign for him not to say anything.

"Its here." and Castiel disappeared from Dean's sight and re-appeared holding a chubby man with no clothes on. He struggled but couldn't fight Castiel's tight hold of the fat around his neck.

"_This_ is Cupid?"

"Castiel! Brother! What brings you here?" asked the rather pathetic figure, in an attempt of gaining Castiel's sympathy.

"The Heaven's want me to take you in. What have you done around here?"

"Nothing, nothing. I was living my life, shooting my arrows and- please, put me down? You know I'm not running away..."

Castiel believed him and put him down carefully. The cherub expressed his happiness by hugging the poor Angel who couldn't get rid of the tight grasp. The trio watching that scene had a mix of horror and disgust in their expressions.

"Cas, take that away now."

The cherub looked back at Dean, finally noticing the other people that surrounded him. His eyes grew wide and sparkled. Dean took a step back, a little too late. Cupid wrapped him and Sam up in the most nauseating hug they've ever experienced. The boys couldn't push him away, it was like the hug of a very huge disgusting bear.

"The Winchesters! Oh! I just knew when I brought your parents together... you'd be the most perfect human beings!"

"Cas! HELP."

Sam was about to pass out when the Cherub spotted Hanna far back.

"And you! You look like a heartbreaker!" he excitedly let go of Dean and Sam and was running towards Hanna with open arms. The girl didn't move. Instead, she looked straight at Cupid

"Don't touch me." she said in the coldest way possible, throwing the hair on the necks of everyone there, including Castiel, up high and above. Cupid stopped running and puffed to a corner, embracing his legs and hiding his face.

Dean and Sam even stopped "cleaning" themselves and they all fell silent until they started hearing Cupid's loud and endless moan.

"Awesome, you made Cupid cry." Hanna rolled her eyes at Dean's observation.

"Cupid always cries." said Castiel going to the cherub to try and comfort him.

"I want _her_ to apologize!" yelled Cupid pointing at Hanna.

"He wants you."

"I'm not goin-"

But she stopped complaining when all the eyes were on her, forcing her to go along with it. She approached the cherub carefully though she decided against tapping his back.

"Uhhhm... I am uh-... Look, I-"

"Wow, you got _mad_ people skills." joked Dean.

She turned around angrily "Why don't _you_ try it then, Winchest- OUCH! That stings you stupid Cupid!" she put her hand on her butt where it hurt and was ready to beat the hell out of the third class angel, but he had disappeared.

"Oh no..." Castiel was the first to notice what happened.

"What?"

"Oh no..." the brothers also realized.

Hanna looked back where she was "hit" and became pale "NO."

They all braced themselves waiting for Cupid's next strike.

"Is it still here?" asked Sam.

"Yes. Its... his version of revenge." explained Castiel, readying himself.

All of a sudden, Castiel plunged to the floor and immobilized the cherub before he could have a chance to shoot on of the brothers. The Winchesters and Hanna all sounded _very_ relieved. Hanna recovered first and pulled a deadly looking dagger down her sleeve, walking determined towards the angels.

"I'm gonna kill you."

"I'm taking you now. Unless you prefer staying with her." Cupid shook his head with emphasis on "no" and Castiel disappeared with the Cherub.

Before Hanna could protest though, the couple descended the house.

* * *

They followed as planned, with Dean going a few meters ahead and Sam and Hanna on the Harley behind. However, after half an hour after they left the town and were already on the highway, the Wendigo was still out of sight.

"Doesn't make any sense, it should be following them by now, its already night."

Hanna didn't answer and Sam noticed that.

"You don't think this is a very good plan, do you?" and more silence. "Look, Dean won't let me drive the Metallicar, I had to come with you, its not like I had a ch-"

"Sshhh!" and she went with the motorcycle off the road and into the forest, turning off the headlights and god-knows-how avoiding the obstacles counting only on her vision.

"What are you doing?!"

"Its after _us_."

* * *

"Your phone is ringing..."

"Pick it up."

"What should I-"

"Gimme that! God, I hate kids... Sam! What the hell are you two doing going off the road like that?!"

"Dean, its me." said the voice over the phone.

"Cas?"

* * *

Sam and Hanna decided to leave the motorcycle behind (too much noise) and split up. He decided for returning to the road and finding Dean. On his way, Sam heard something approaching at a distance. He prepared his aim and himself. As soon as he saw movement in proximity, he fired.

"CRAP Sammy!" Dean avoided the bullet by very (very) little.

"Dean?!"

"Where the hell is Hanna?"

"We split up, the Wendigo was tailing us."

"Damn it!"

"What's going on?"

"She's marked, Sam."

"But-"

"The holy water was a stupid useless 'prevention' for people who were marked... by Cupid's arrow."

* * *

She ran as fast as she could but she could still feel the creature closing in on her, she knew she had to find somewhere she could have a good vision and shoot the Wendigo but how the hell was she supposed to find the time to position herself in the middle of the freaking woods? Her breath was heavy, but she had training - she didn't make that much noise - how was it following her like that? All Hanna could do was keep on running. Luckily, she knew where she might have a chance.

* * *

"She's on foot, she can't go far."

"Have you seen that girl?! She can run the marathon in those heels of hers!"

"She'll need to find position to shoot eventually."

They kept on running forward, a little lost in fact, until they heard a gunshot miles ahead of them. They were in the right direction.

"The pump station. She's going to the pump station."


	16. Love Me Back to Life

"Hanna!"

It was Dean's voice. Thank G-

"I know you're in here! Come on!"

The girl would have stopped hiding if she hadn't remembered that one of the Wendigo's abilities was...

"Hanna!"

... mimicking people's voices. The shadow projected left no doubt: she was alone and had to do it alone. But she was by no means defenseless and holding on to this knowledge, she prepared her two guns and passed by the Wendigo shooting it and hiding again. How long could she play that game though? Wendigos are supernaturally fast, it was impossible to shoot one that was not immobilized. And they're also extremely strong so engaging in short-reach gun combat would be beyond stupid. But she didn't have time to think anymore. The Wendigo appeared right in front of her and threw her a couple of meters away. She wasn't prepared for that. Wendigos are guided by the sound, it couldn't have heard her breath, she was controlling it. Even if this one could smell, it was impossible to go as far as smelling her exact location, too many dead bodies around. It shouldn't see either, it couldn't.

The Wendigo held her to the ground as she was about to get up and run. Her weapons were not in her hands anymore. She tried her hidden deadly weapons but nothing was able to scratch or disturb the creature enough to loose her. When it glued its head next to her neck, she thought she was done with.  
"Why do you keep running from me?"  
But it only spoke softly on her ears. It still used Dean's voice to make matters worse. She caught herself wishing she could count on being saved by him. But when the creature let go of her arms to break both her legs, she knew there was no being saved. She screamed in agony, for the pain and for realizing that. But she was not dying. It suddenly occurred to her she still had Dean's Colt with her. She readily aimed it and shot the Wendigo's head. It got off of her. She wasn't even gonna try to find the creature, she needed to get somewhere safe(r). She dragged her body, gun in hands, and managed to move a good couple of meters when the thing stopped in front of her. She tried shooting it again but the Colt was kicked away from her hand faster than she could pull the trigger. The Wendigo grabbed her by the hair and took its time doing what he intended to do all along.

* * *

Dean and Sam were almost there, they could see the facility and they were getting closer. But the scream they heard was so horrible, so gut-wrenching, that they even came to a full stop before they heard another gunshot and they picked up the pace again. Dean recognized the sound of that particular gunshot, it made him run even faster. There was silence for a while - none of them would ever admit it, but during that time they both imagined the worst. Until they started to hear another series of the most agonizing screams. They were so close now, Dean thought, now it was just killing that son of a bitch of a Wendigo. But his reason was off the door when he heard one final scream. So loud, so full of pain. When Dean started shooting his way into the station, followed by Sam doing the exact same thing, he couldn't believe that the scream could've originated from there. What they found was so quiet, way too quiet.

The Wendigo didn't even attempt to escape as Sam shot one final bullet in its head. Before it dropped dead, it was so intoxicated in its activity, so focused on its prey. Behind the dead creature, was a whole lot of blood. Too much.

Sam kept his aim on the creature, afraid it could wake up from the dead at any given moment. Dean wasn't really sure about what he was doing. All he could see was the red of blood involving the girl's body. He saw his Colt a few inches away from her, "not even that protected her" he thought. It was the only thing he thought that night. The rest was blurry to him. How and if the creature died. How he picked Hanna up in his arms, how light and fragile she felt, how she had pain written all over her usually amazing face. He doesn't know if Sam followed him to the hospital, not even how he got there.  
Dean only "woke up" from that trance when he found himself waking up in the uncomfortable seat of a hospital bedside.

He felt confused at first but remembered his feeling of impotence when he saw Hanna lying there, still unconscious. Then it all came back to him. Sam had tried to tell him about how that wasn't his fault earlier, before he fell asleep there. But his brother didn't understand, of course Dean felt responsible. ("Will you trust me?!") he remembered he asked that of her. And that on the night they got to talk, he detected she was scared, like he once was when he found himself alone. He didn't wish that on anyone, he truly wanted her to trust him, he wanted to be able to be reliable to her, who else did she have?

Dean held the hand in front of him "You're all alone" he told her, even though he was sure she wasn't listening. He heard someone opening the door and let go of the hand immediately by instinct.

"Dean, we have to go. Doctors say she'll be fine."

"Yeah, Sammy. I'll be right out. Why don't you.." and Dean threw his brother a set of keys "get the car, okay?"

Sam walked out of the room. But his brief interruption was enough to bring Dean back to his senses. What he didn't know is that the conversation had also brought Hanna to her senses, though she was too weak to demonstrate it. He got up and came closer to her face, to make sure that expression of acute pain was gone.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

That voice was Dean's. Sure, the last thing she heard was his voice coming out of the Wendigo, that alone should terrify her. But inexplicably she knew it was him, she didn't panic and just kept herself in a calm between almost sleeping again and too weak to open her eyes to check. But she could feel his proximity, and him stepping away and then finally gone.

"I'm all alone." she thought then.

Although she wanted to open her eyes, in hopes she'd find out she wasn't by herself again, she felt like her unconsciousness was calling her to limbo some more, so she went back to it.


	17. Good Guys Don't Always Wear White

Falling asleep after Dean left was the last thing she remembered clearly. The next week was spent with several flashes that Hanna couldn't even tell were real. She realized she was in a hospital, though she expected more nursing visits. The only person she could tell came regularly was a doctor Baker, she heard a nurse call him once. He'd come and say a few things, her numbness wouldn't let her understand a word. Finally a morning came when she felt it was possible to open her eyes.

"Waking up, are we?" it was the doctor's voice.

Hanna soon saw a figure very close to her, she forced her eyes to focus.

"Hanna?"

"What-?"

"Its okay. You're in the hospital. How do you feel? Do you remember coming here?"

He talked too much.

"I was going for 'what the hell are you doing'."

Doctor Baker realized he was talking way too close to her face.

"I'm sorry." and pulled away a little embarrassed, he was moronic (in a cute way) "I've been taking care of you for a week now, I feel like I know you already."

"A week?"

"You were brought in. Bear attack. Very serious."

_Bear attack_? Who the hell came up with that idea?

"But we were able to treat you. You heal very fast, its amazing."

"I had a week." she was a little perturbed for being in the weak position she considered herself in _and_ she wasted a whole week (?!)

"Technically, you made a full recovery in three days... You just wouldn't wake up."

"Anyone thought of calling me?!" she was already trying to get up. She uncovered herself, her legs were showing and being admired for a few seconds by doctor Talkative, when she put her feet on the ground, she felt her legs fail for a moment. The doctor held her steady.

"I felt like a rest would be good for you."

He tried to lead her to lie down again, she resisted.

"Could you please relax a while longer? You can start moving around again soon."

"Moving around...?"

"You still need to be evaluated by a physiotherapist."

"I'm fine. Just get me the discharge papers."

"I'm afraid that's not possible for now."

She agreed to lie down again. As soon as he closed the door, she was already planning her escape. The door opened again.

"Please don't try to escape. I was planning on taking you to lunch." doctor Baker smiled and closed the door again. Maybe she could escape after lunch.

* * *

"Dean! You missed the entrance again!"

"What?! Of course not, the entrance is right..."

"_Was_ right there."

"We'll just have to make another return, Sammy, chill."

"Another return for the third time?"

"You' in a hurry?!"

Sam knew that pointing out all that was wrong with Dean at that moment would not help his cause or Dean's temper, so he decided to let his brother cool down and hopefully make the right turn this time.

"Tell me again _why_ we have to go back there?" Dean was cooling.

"Dean... I honestly don't see the problem."

"Yeah, yeah." he kept driving and this time he got the entrance right.

* * *

"So, do you remember what happened?"

She thought he was more interested in her than in what happened to her, that's why she agreed to this in the first place - and in second because she doubted her Harley was parked outside, her weakened legs would probably make it harder for her to steal another transportation at this point. Hanna was as vague as she could blame her unconsciousness to have made her.

"Bear attack, you know." it still sounded silly but what the hell.

"Some bear."

What now? He was questioning her?

"This is nice. Do you bring all your patients here to eat... what is this?"

He was pleased by her company but seemed way too eager to have his questions answered to allow her to change the subject.

"Do you remember who brought you here?"

"I was unconscious." meaning 'no'.

"But you called for him."

She blushed but did not let it show.

"No idea. Why? You're into him or something, doc?"

"No. Not _him_ anyways." he gave her that great smile with a hint of a blink. Finally, his attention was on her.

* * *

After dribling security and getting Sam a lab coat, the Winchesters split up. Dean was walking down a long hallway when something caught his attention. It was the only room in there with the curtains closed. In the middle of the day? He approached the door and opened it carefully. It didn't take much time for him to realize he had just walked in on a couple.

"I'm sorry." And without looking at them he started to apologetically close the door.

"Winchester?" a female voice called him back. Not "a" female voice, _the_ female voice.

He re-opened the door immediately after processing the information.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" he then looked at the panting handsome doctor. "Never mind."

"Wait-"

"Safe to say you're feeling just fine."

She let go of the doctor and went to talk to Dean while doctor Baker put back his lab coat and returned his well-kept hair to its glory. Hanna didn't seem to wanna involve the good doctor in the conversation, she spoke to Dean as if his existence was a secret.

"Is something going on?" she asked him, while in her mind it translated more to something like "he can't be here just to check on me (?)"

Dean kept his eyes on the doctor who was trying his best to pretend like this was any regular Tuesday.

"Should I be talking to Sam?" she called impatiently on him again.

He didn't want to explain to the girl why they had returned there. In fact, both the Winchesters were counting on the fact that she had fled the hospital by now. The doctor now looked at them, waiting patiently to either be introduced or get a "safe" passage to the exit.

"Maybe doctor Handsome over there knows something."

"Don't you even-"

Dean passed right by her.

"Hi there, Dean Winchester." the boy extended his arm for a handshake.

"Doctor Liam Baker." he greeted with a smile.

It bothered Dean that he had to use the "doctor" in his introduction, like that somehow gave him extra credit.

"So _doctor_, you know where one can find babies in here?"

"Just off the fifth floor we have our maternity wing...? Can I help you with something?"

"Do you go there regularly?"

"A few times, yes." the poor doctor was so confused.

"Define 'few'."

"You're pathetic." she whispered to Dean.

Doctor Liam Handsome Baker seemed to pick up on something.

"You two know each other?"

"Not really."

"No."

"Wait... you're the one who broug-"

"Can I borrow her for a second, doc?" Dean intervened. Before the doctor could say yes or no, Dean pushed her over to another corner. Doctor Baker had just been beeped and announced that before leaving the room, not that Hanna noticed, not that Dean cared.

"Are you sure you're not looking for the psychiatric wing?!" then she continued to insult him some more "Babies? Are you kidding me? They commit people here who are much less deranged."

"Is that why you're still here?"

"_You_ are the one who shouldn't be here. Tell me what the hell is going on!"

"You know what? Here's the key to the Harley-that's-not-yours, have a good life!" he put the keys in her hands and started walking away

"Not so fast! You still have to tell me what you want in the maternity wing. and don't tell me its for your annual check up, they have a height limit."

"Look at that, one near-death-experience and suddenly you have a sense of humor!"

He tried walking in a fast pace towards the elevator, she followed the best she could. When people around started frowning at his bad behavior towards the patient (she still had her hospital clothes on), Dean slowed down and pretended to walk with her until he had a chance to ditch her again.

"You know you can't ignore me forever."

"I can always try."

Dean started dialing his phone and Hanna watched attentively his every move. She still could knock him to the floor if he tried to leave her behind.

"Hey man, fifth floor." Dean hung up and got into the elevator, he tried closing the door on Hanna but she held it open and got in.

"Was that Sam? What? You guys thinking of adoption?" said her with sarcasm. She hated she was not getting answers.

"Cute, but no."

They both got off. Sam got off on the next elevator, stopping in shock at the sight of Hanna.

"She's still here?!"

"Yes, she is." answered the girl a little tired of their judgement. "Now tell me what you two are doing here."

Sam looked nervous and preferred to keep quiet. Dean was serious and decided to lead his brother down the corridor and proceed as if she wasn't there. She marched alongside them decided to keep up. When her weakness started showing (she wasn't after all completely rested), Dean came to a full stop and turned to her a little enervated.

"Stop following us. You're just gonna be in the way."

She felt very offended, though deep down she knew it was true.

"I can handle it! I could've handled that Wendigo too but- I didn't plan for it to-" talking about it was harder than she expected. That thing had made her look weak.

"It wasn't your fault." said Sam in an almost comforting tone.

"I don't know _why_ it was acting that way and I know I should've-"

"It was a freaking trap okay?!" Dean yelled at her. He couldn't take that anymore. She was confused at the information and at the yelling. "It was a trap to _you_ and we're pretty sure it was Azazel. So, wake-up! Whatever it is you're planning for him, he _knows_ you exist and he's after _you_! That Cupid hit _you_ and that was the mark the Wendigo was following."

"Azazel...?"

"We won't be of any help to you if you burst into flames on a ceiling."

She knew he was talking about their mother. And Hanna let it all sink in and build up an extreme anger towards Azazel.

"Come on, the babies are this way." she led them. She sounded furious. There was no stopping her. And as the Winchesters realized that, they simply followed.


	18. Born To Be My Baby

"So, besides the baby stakeout, what are we here to do?"

"_Not_ the doctor (unlike you)"

"I'm going in there. Dean, do you have it?"

Dean gave a small earpiece to his brother and put one inside his own ear. Hanna kept on looking at him.

"Hope you're not expecting one too."

She was.

Sam, wearing his lab coat _disguise,_entered the glassed room where the newborns awaited patiently inside their hospital cradle to be taken home.

Dean had already identified himself at the hospital as a park ranger the last time he was there, he preferred not to try his luck in a doctor's outfit. Hanna had her hospital gown on, they wouldn't let her change back to her badass leather just yet - but that would do for the cover they were trying to pull.

"Okay now Sammy, don't worry. We've got you covered."

Even though Dean had "_we_"_d_ them, Hanna was still not completely part of the plan.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for." said Sam over the earphone.

"Look for anything unusual" was the answer Hanna could hear Dean give. And for a reason unknown to the brothers, that was enough for her to assimilate the situation with amazing precision.

"Tell him to look for birthmarks." she instructed.

"There's nothing unusual about birthmarks." Dean refused to let her participate. He didn't want to encourage her to go any further on that subject and was still a little tense.

Hanna got closer to Dean, a little too irritated for him to think too much of it; she put her mouth next to his jaw and he could feel her breath when she repeated her instructions to Sam - who was too busy following to have noticed the scene which, for any outside observer, would look exactly what it wasn't like.

"Next time... you just repeat what I say." she pulled away and gave him a pretentious smile after noticing Dean clear his throat as if it just went dry.

Sam kept on checking with ultimate discretion so there was nothing on which Dean could focus.

"How did you know we were the ones who brought you here?"

Because she called out to him? Not a chance.

"Bear attack."

He looked at her, waiting.

"Who else would have made up such a terrible excuse?"

"Forget I asked."

But she kept on provoking, never underestimating the saying of the best defense being a good attack.

"A _bear_! Do you even know if there are bears in that area?!"

"Well, now there are."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"You know, I think I like you better when you're unconscious." he said in reply.

"And I like you when... Hmm, no, sorry, I drew a blank."

And though she kept on showing no verbal mercy, Dean was interrupted by the voice in his ear: "I can see you're having a fascinating conversation, but there's a woman coming in your direction." observed Sam.

Dean turned around to see an old lady get close to the glass separating them from the babies. Hanna noticed and kept quiet at once, while Sam did his best to blend in. The woman kept her face practically glued to the glass, observing each and every baby, scanning them until she stopped at one in particular. The duo next to her almost stopped breathing when they heard her surprised "oh!".

Then the woman opened a smile.

"There is my grandson!"

What a relief. Well, not yet. They had to observe her a little more - just now they could do it while processing oxygen.

She just kept on waiving and smiling, almost drooling of affection. She seemed to finally notice the two people next to her.

"Isn't he adorable?" she asked them rhetorically. With no answer, she took her time to actually look at them, never loosing her loving smile. She decided they were shy, and took it upon her to get them talking.

"Which one is yours?" she asked innocently.

Both reached a new tone of red and were completely mortified for being mistaken for a couple, specially a couple who could have babies together. The woman, who had no way of knowing she hit a nerve (or two), just insisted with her obliviousness.

"Such an attractive couple..."

On that note, Hanna simply walked away, with an expression very similar to the one she had when she made Cupid cry. Dean had time to compose himself (and was more of a people's person). He smiled back at the lady and decided it'd rather be funny than offensive. So he played along.

"Sorry, postpartum stress disorder." he explained amused (probably imagining the face Hanna was doing at the sound of that comment).

"Oh my... I hope she feels better. She looks great though, you're a lucky man!"

He kept a small smile to the grandma, for apperances sake, but suddenly it was not so funny anymore.

She greeted Dean with a smile, finally feeling her mission in engaging in a conversation with them was accomplished. When she left, both the Winchesters let out a relief sigh.

"Hey, Sammy, check if her grandson has any birthmarks." and it was back to business.

Sam carefully checked and saw something on the baby's neck. He then proceeded to find a strange birthmark in almost every single one of those babies.

"All the ones that have been here since last night." he concluded to Dean.

"So, they are receiving nightly visits... How many?"

"Seven, from what I could count. The other six arrived this morning."

* * *

While Sam started writing down some useful information, Dean walked over to Hanna, who had reclused herself to a bench in the corner.

"How come you face supernatural creatures by yourself all the time and yet can't talk to an adoring old lady? You gotta work on your social."

"I'll keep that in mind." she used her sarcasm again.

"Why did you give the birthmark tip?"

"You're looking for babies contaminated by demons, right?"

Dean wasn't surprised anymore. She was super smart, and he got that.

"_Contaminated_ is a little strong, don't you think?"

"Its what they are. Born to be their puppets."

He had indeed underestimated her long enough.

"Azazel is the one feeding them their first breastfeed." he was so serious and concerned for sharing this that his voice barely came out. Also because he knew he was referring to his younger brother as well. Again at the mention of the name, Hanna's aura became pained.

"So its not any demon?"

"We don't think so, no."

"I feel like Azazel is always closer whenever you guys are around..."

"I have a feeling that like everything else... you already know about our mother(?)"

She confirmed silently.

"We don't know why, or any details, but he had been after her for years - even before I was born. So, yeah, I guess he's always close to us, creeping around for a reason we have yet to find out. [...] And once we do find out..." He closed his hands in a fist without thinking. "...we're gonna kill him."

He sounded too angry for Hanna to engage him into the no-i'm-the-one-killing-him-conversation. She thought the best course of action was to agree on disagreeing - just this once.


End file.
